Strivings For The Faith A Course of Lectures (1880) Christian Evidence Lectures, Series 5

STRIVINGS
FOR
Till:-
FAITH
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CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE LECTURES. SERIES
V.
STRIVINGS FOR THE FAITH.
COURSE OF LECTURES
NEW HALL OF
SCIENCE, OLD STREET, CITY ROAIJ,
DELIVERED IN THE
AT THE REQUEST OF THE
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY.
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(;
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BOOKS PUBLISHED BY THE
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY,

OR AT THEIR INSTANCE.
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE LECTURES
Series
,,
:
i.
2. 3. 4.
MODERN SCEPTICISM. FAITH AND FREE THOUGHT.

CREDENTIALS OF CHRISTIANITY. POPULAR OBJECTIONS TO REVEALED TRUTH. STRIVINGS FOR THE FAITH.
5.
THE SUPERNATURAL
TORICAL.
By
IN
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, POSSIBLE, CREDIBLE, the Rev. Preb. Row, M.A. 12^.
ics. 6d.
AND His*
THE GOSPELS
"Supernatural Religion."
THE SECOND CENTURY. An Examination of By the Rev. W. SANDAY, D.D.

Course of
six
the critical part fo
is. 6d. SOME MODERN SOME WITNESSES FOR THE FAITH. Course of six Sermons, is. &/. THEISM AND CHRISTIANITY. Course of six Sermons, is. 6d. THE JEWS \s RELATION TO THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD. Course
RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTIES.
Sermons,
of six
Lectures.
3*.
6d.
FRENCH LECTURES,
13,
delivered at the Paris Exhibition, 1878.
Buckingham
Street,
Strand,
London,
Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers,
London and Aylesbury.
LIBRAE Y OP
WYCLIFFE
COLI
X P R E F A C E.
THE
titled
following
Lectures
were delivered in the same

contained
in
Hall where the lectures

"
the volume en
"
Popular Objections to Revealed Truth
were
delivered last year.
They
are intended similarly to
com
diffi
bat
some of the
objections, or to
meet some of the

day
culties that are raised at the present
in reference to
Christianity, dealing
more
particularly with s-ome of the

"
points insisted
Secularists." upon by the The Committee trust that these Strivings

"
"
for the
Faith
selves
may
prove useful both to
many who may them

to,
be feeling the force of the objections referred
and to many who may be seeking for further confirma tion of that faith which already they hold.
Whilst these lectures were delivered at the request
and under
the
auspices
of
the
it
Christian
Evidence
Society, the Committee wish
to
be understood that
each author
is
responsible for the statements
and argu
ments of his own lecture; no revision of the lectures

having been in any way
2,
made by
the Committee,
DUKE
STREET, ADELPHI, LONDON, W.C.

1874.
Auust>
CONTENTS.
LECTURE
I.
DIFFICULTIES ON THE SIDE OF UNBELIEF IN ACCOUNTING
FOR HISTORICAL CHRISTIANITY.

BY THE
REV. G.
Head Master of King s
F.
MACLEAR,
D.D.,
College School, and late Assistant Preacher ai the J. emple Church.
I.
Limitation of subject.
II.
Remarkable
sacrifice.
cessation of the old universal custom
of
III.
The
sense of
sin,
the basis of the
idea of sacrifice,
still
remains, and has

sacrifices
become
intensified.
sacrificial
IV. Although
have ceased,
terms are
associated with
the remarkable rite of the
Lord
Supper, which professes to commemorate the death

of
its
Institutor.
V. Sketch of the Life of

the
Christ,
and of the
Institution of
Lord
Supper.
of this
origin
;
VI. The universal adoption

of the narrative of
its
rite;
the simplicity the difficulty of ac
counting for
its
implied, beyond the death of
continued observance, if nothing were its Founder.

alone an ade
VII. The historical
fact of the Resurrection

rite.
quate ground for celebrating this
vi
Contents.
PAGE
VIII, Difficulties to be met, supposing the Resurrection not . . to be true. .
LECTURE
II.
THE VARIATIONS OF THE GOSPELS IN THEIR RELATION TO THE EVIDENCES AND TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY.
BY THE
REV. T.
R.
BIRKS, M.A., CAMB.,

and
Professor of Hforal Philosophy in the University of Cambridge, Honorary Canon of Ely Cathedral.
I.
Common
their
characteristics of the Gospels,
and marks of
their silence
their unity in respect of their brevity
simplicity
their their
proportion
their
selection
in regard
of
of
minor incidents
common
object
proving the Messiahship of Jesus.

II.
Consideration of five possible modes of variation in the testimony of witnesses, Under which are we to class the
variations of the Gospels ? Are the alleged contradic tions contained in them apparent or real ?
III.
Examination of some of the variations in the four Gospels (i.) Their mutual relation as to sameness and diversity ;
:
(ii.)
The
;
historical unity
(iii.)
and special adaptation of each
The moral and spiritual character of the Gospels; (iv.) The genealogies; (v.) The accounts of our Lord s infancy (vi. ) The main scene and locality
Gospel
;
of our Lord
public ministry.
IV. Conclusion.
ceal
The seeming divergences in the Gospels con below their surface deep evidence of real consist ency and truth. Importance of patient and prayerful thought and labour in order to ascertain the true har
mony
of the revelation contained in
God
Word
37
Contents.
vii
PAGE
LECTURE III. THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.

BY
B.
HARRIS COWPER,
ESQ.
I.
Unfair treatment of Apocryphal Gospels by attempting i.) to exalt them to the level of the Canonical Gospels ;
(ii.)
to
lower the true Gospels to the level of the
Apocryphal.
II.
An
explanation of the origin and intention of the Apocry
Some of the characteristics of them phal Gospels. distinguished from the genuine Gospels.
III.
The Apocryphal Gospels

authority.
not supported by ecclesiastical
Examination of traditions referring to the formation of the canon, and of unreliable statements on
the subject
made by some
infidel writers.
IV. Testimonies of ancient writers as to the existence of cer

tain apocryphal books,
false
and a brief account of the
six
Gospels
now
extant.
(i.)
V. Conclusion.

;
not so ancient
as the four canonical Gospels
(ii.)
not received as of
equal authority with them (except by certain sects) ; (iii.) not genuine productions of the apostolic age or The Apocryphal Gospels distin of apostolic men.
guished from the canonical in regard of their general

character and literary style
. .
-73
of
1
APPENDIX. An outline of the Apocryphal Matthew and of Nicodemus
Gospels
02
viii
Contents.
LECTURE
IV.
THE EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF THE EARLY EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL VIEWED AS HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
BY THE
REV. PETER LORIMER,
D.D.,
Professor of Theology in the English Presbyterian
Callege
London.
The
Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans, allowed by all eminent scholars
to be genuine.
To
be examined
now
simply as historical
documents
Their
(as
we might examine
(i.)
evidential value
the letters of Cicero, etc). as to the outlines of the life of
Christ;
(ii.)
As to the personal history of St. Paul, especially with reference (a) to the independent origin of his preaching not derived from Greek and Oriental sources ;
the relation between himself and St. Peter and the
(b} to
other Apostles ; (c) to his alleged mythological develop ment of the teaching of Christ.
(iii.)
propaga Important to observe that these Epistles give the testimony both of St. Paul and of those to whom he writes as to facts of which both he and they
tion of Christianity.
life
As
to the supernatural element in the earliest
i.
were witnesses. Testimony to the new character and sprung up under St. Paul s teaching.
which had
2.
Testimony
Testimony
to the supernatural origin of the Gospel, as

its
proved by
3.
to the
moral and religious influence. Divine presence and power which ac

Paul
his
s
companied
manifested
Apostle."
St.
preaching of the Gospel, as

the
"signs
by
miracles,
of
an
4,
Testimony
"
to the same, as manifested
by the
spiritual
gifts
of the Church.
Contents.
ix
Concluding remarks
(i.)
The Church
of Christ was planted before any part of the New Testament was written and hence the existence
:
(ii.)
not really endangered by any attacks made upon the writings of the New Testament, These early Epistles of St. Paul are genuine historical
is
of the Church
(iii.)
credit, quite apart from the question of their inspiration. Facts, such as those concerning the early Church, men tioned in the Lecture, are evidence of the existence
documents, and worthy of
of God, and of His providential government ; they cannot be explained or accounted for satisfactorily by
any
naturalistic solution.
.109
LECTURE
BY THE
V.
ST.
LORD LYTTLETON ON THE CONVERSION OF

REV.
Variety of evidence classes of minds,
PAUL.
JOHN GRITTON.
required for the conviction of various illustrated by variety of effect produced

difficulties, etc.,
by
scientific
or historical
on those who
may have been
induced by the evidence of prophecy, or
of miracles, or of the character of Christ, to accept the Bible as containing a Divine Revelation. Testimony to the Divine origin of Christianity derived from the life and writings of Lord Lyttleton, particularly from
his treatise
on
St.
Paul
conversion.
which Lord Lyttleton postulates acknowledged to be true, even by unbelieving critics. The testimony to St. Paul s miraculous call to the Apostlefacts
,
The
ship, as
contained in his own speeches before Festus and King Agrippa, and before the Jews in Jerusalem in St. Luke s record in the Acts and in the confessedly genuine
; ;
writings of St. Paul.
Contents.
PAGH
to account for the
:
Three suppositions may possibly be made

facts of the case,
I.
without allowing the miraculous element

false,
That
St.
Paul said what he knew to be
with an
:
intent to deceive.
(i.)
Difficulties of this supposition motive could St. Paul have for thus acting ? Possible motives, as the desire of wealth, fame, or
What
power, or the desire to gratify some passion, examined, and shown to be baseless, (ii.) He could have had no
reasonable prospect of success in carrying out his im posture (a) in relation to the other Apostles ; (b) in
preaching
among
the Gentiles, and contending
(i)
with
the policy of the magistrates ; (2) with the interests of the priests ; (3) with the prejudices of the people ;
(4) with the
II.
wisdom of the
philosophers.
That he
was an enthusiast, imposed upon by the But he exhibits force of an overheated imagination. none of the marks of an enthusiast, and it is even more difficult on this supposition than on the previous one to account for his life and works.
III.
That he was deceived by the fraud of others. This supposition shown to be impossible and absurd. Hence we must fall back on the supposition that St.
Paul does give an authentic account of his conversion, and we must conclude, therefore, that Christianity is
a Divine Revelation
. .
45
Contents.
xi
LECTURE
VI.
ALLEGED DIFFICULTIES IN THE MORAL TEACHING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

BY THE
REV.
Author of
"
C.
A.
ROW,
M.A.,
"
Prebendary of St. Paul s, The Nature and Extent of Divine

"
Inspiration"
Tin
Jems
of the Evangelists"
The Moral Teaching of
the
New
Testament," etc.
Subject limited to examination of certain objections made by Mr. F. W. Newman and Mr. J. S. Mill. Opposition
between Mr.
ples
Newman
and Mr.
Mill, as to
whether princi
contrary to truth and right preponderate in the teaching of the New Testament. Both agree that its
"
"system
teaching is defective. of moral teaching
must set forth general principles, but cannot contain specific precepts applicable to every detail of duty. Superiority of the New Testament in this
point over other professed systems of morals. love to God, love
Leading principles of Christian morality,
to our neighbour, self-sacrifice (this last entirely over looked both by Mr. Newman and Mr. Mill); also the principles of truth, honour, justice, and the morally beau
tiful, etc.,
are appealed
to.
Some
special objections
:
made by Mr. Newman,
stated
and
examined
(i.)
That
their sense of the nearness of the future
world, as insisted upon by the writers of the New Testament, must have rendered them inadequate moral teachers ; (ii. )
That the
New
Testament
;
is
deficient in its teaching as to
That it contains no precept regulating the practice of war ; (iv. ) Nor any precept directly commanding the abolition of slavery ; (v.) That
our political relations
(iii. )
it
is
deficient in not enunciating the rights of
Objections
made by Mr.
Mill
considered:
(i.)
man. That
in
xii
Contents.
PAGE
Christian ethics the duty of patriotism is not sufficiently esteemed or set forth ; (ii. ) That all recognition of the idea of public duty in modern times is derived from Greek
and Roman
honour,
sources, not from Christian ones;

life all
(iii.)
That
in the morality of private

etc., is
sense of personal dignity, derived from the human and not from the
religious part of our education.
Objections considered in reference to the alleged contradiction between the New Testament and the teachings of Political
(i.)
Economy The principles

:
of Political Economy inadequate to grapple with many difficulties which can only be dealt with by the energy that is supplied by the principles of
Christian morality. The precepts of Christ not all intended to be under
(ii.)
stood
(iii. )
literally.
Christian teaching in relation to the principle of pru dent saving and to the accumulation of capital.
(iv.)
Mr.
Newman s
as
to
teaching
Conclusion.
objections considered against St. Paul s the relations between masters and
servants, parents
and children, husbands and wives.
personal influence of Christ as a moral and spiritual power Quotation from Lecky s History of Morals. .
The
.181
LECTURE
VII.
THE COMBINATION OF UNITY WITH PROGRESSIVENESS OF THOUGHT IN THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE,
AN ARGUMENT
IN
FAVOUR OF DIVINE REVELATION. BY THE

J.
REV.
H.
TITCOMB,
M.A.,
Vicar of St. Stephens, South Lambeth, and Rural
Dean of Clapkam.
The
The Old Testa extent of time covered by the enquiry. ment Scriptures represent the religious faith and hope
Contents.
of the Hebrews, from at least the time of
to Christ.
I.
xiii
PAGH
Abraham
Inquiry whether there
is not a unity combined with progressiveness of thought in the Scriptures, running over a prodigious lapse of time, yet making up one harmo
nious and perfect whole,

(i.)
The
historical
development of the traditional hope
respecting a coming Deliverer.

(ii.)
The
doctrinal development, with reference (a] to the Prophetic or Teaching Office of the Redeemer, () to
His Kingly
II.
Office.
progressiveness,"
Contrast, in respect of this "unity with between the religion of the Hebrews,
of Egypt and China, and the systems of
and the religions Buddhism and
Brahminism.
III.
The
brew Religion
(i.)
only explanation of this characteristic of the He to be found in the belief that it is a result
of Divine Revelation,
Consideration of the fact

It is set forth in the
itself:
(1)
(2)
books of the Old Testament, which were certainly in existence about 200 B.C. These books contain the remains of an actual faith and hope never extinguished in Israel.
religious
(3)
This faith and hope confirmed by a succession of teachers, and set forth in a variety of
methods.
(ii.)
Consideration of the circumstances attending this fact (1) The vicissitudes in fortune of the Israelites.
(2)
The
writers
who developed
this
hope were men of
various positions, modes of thought, etc. (3) Many of the facts, predicted of the coming Re deemer, of such a kind as to be at once capable
of refutation,
(4)
not actually fulfilled. the statements respecting Jesus of Nazareth contained in the confessedly genuine
if
Harmony between
Epistles of St. Paul, and the anticipations regarding the Messiah set forth by the Old Testament writers.
xiv
Contents.
FACE
(a)
(b)
The promised Redeemer was by His own people. The result of His teaching was
dispensation,
rejected
and
slain
to introduce a
new
open
to Gentiles as well as to Jews.
(c)
This
new dispensation was
in the course of actually
breaking up the whole Jewish nationality.

(lii.)
Three possible explanations of this fact on natural grounds considered, and their unsatisfactoriness ex
hibited.
(1)
That the sayings of the Old
Testament had no
proper application to a coming Redeemer.

(2)
That these sayings were only the surmisings of genius,
strangely and unexpectedly fulfilled. (3) That Christ and His Apostles purposely moulded events so as to bring about the fulfilment of the
guesses
and
speculations
contained in
the
Old
Testament.
(iv.)
Christianity supplies the only
reasonableness the
full
key which unlocks with meaning of the books of the

221
Old Testament
LECTURE
BY
VIII.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN STUART MILL.
W.
R.
BROWNE,
M.A.,
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

vâlue of
an Autobiography, especially of such a man and
thinker as J. S. Mill. Examination of the book with respect to Mill s religious

opinions.
Contents.
xv
PAGE
life
He
accepted and continued throughout

gious opinions impressed
ing on
ci
to hold the reli
upon him by
his father, reject
Reasons
why no
priori grounds everything supernatural. weight is to be attached to his Scepticism,
(i) He seems never to have thoroughly investigated the evidences of Christianity. (2) The result of his early training was to look upon Christianity exactly as upon any of the ancient religions, as something which in no way
concerned him.
at the
ticism.
(3)
Disbelief in the freedom of the will

his
bottom both of
own and
of his father
scep
Consideration of the doctrine of necessity. The freedom of the will shown to be necessary for the development of virtue and of all morality. The existence of evil shown
to be at once possible,
when
the freedom of the will
is
admitted.
virtue.
Evil essential for the discipline and growth of The dignity of suffering as exhibited in the
Mill, whilst rejecting free-will,
Christian religion.
James and John
and
there
fore rejecting Christianity, still retained those conceptions of right and of duty, which imply free-will hence an
argument in favour of Christianity.
The philosophy
influence
;
of the Secularist powerless as to any moral thu contrasted with Christianity . .

;
259
DIFFICULTIES ON THE SIDE OF UNBE LIEF IN ACCOUNTING FOR HISTORICAL CHRISTIANITY.

BY THE
REV.
Htad Master of King s
G. F.
MACLEAR,
and
D.D.,
Preacher at the
College School,
late Assistant
Temple Church.
on the sibt of Stnbdief

in accounting
for historical Christianity
i.
1.
HpHE
*
side
of
subject on which I have to speak this Difficulties on the evening relates to the Unbelief in accounting for Historical Chris
"
tianity."
2.
I think
it
will
be
best, in treating
such a subject, to
confine myself to one or two points, instead of surveying a large number, which could not be satisfactorily dealt
with in the compass of a single lecture. 3. I propose, therefore, to ask you to review certain
it seems to me, remain and must remain absolutely inexplicable and unintelligible without the solution Christianity supplies, and I wish to inquire whether the difficulties these facts present do .not, except on the supposition that Christianity is true,
facts of history, which, as
involve conclusions
more miraculous and unaccountable
than anything that has ever occurred in the world.
Difficulties
on the side of Unbelief

II
1.
In a famous
letter,
written between A.D.
104 and
no, by the pro-praetor Pliny to the Emperor Trajan, he mentions that in his province of Pontus and Bithynia
certain strange tenets
for some years been spread the temples of the gods of which consequence were forsaken, the sacred solemnities intermitted, and
had
abroad, in
the sacrificial victims found very

2.
purchasers. has been remarked by Paley* that no evidence remains, by which it can be proved that the description
feu>
It
he gives
is
to
be confined
to these provinces,
and was
unknown
in other parts of the
Roman
Empire.
The
evidence, indeed, rather points to the contrary, and the words of the pro-praetor are brought forward here because
they refer to the commencement within historic times, and not at a period so remote as to be lost in a fabulous antiquity, of one of the most striking religious revolu
tions
which the annals of the past record. 3. Ho\v singular this revolution is we can, perhaps, estimate most effectively by supposing a Jew of the days
of Solomon or Herod, or a Gentile of the days of Pericles or Augustus, to visit one of the churches of modern
Christendom.
Amongst many other

it
things which
strike him, none,
may be
believed,
would would do so with

earliest
greater force than the absence of that ancient sacrificial

ritual,
with which he had
been familiar from
* It is to be remembered that his Evidences, Part II. chap. ix. province included several important towns Neocsesareia, Chalcedon, Nicomedeia, Amisus, Trapezus, and the colonies of Heracleia and
Sinope.
See Merivale
viil 144.
History of the
Romans under
the
Em-
in accounting for Historical Christianity.
childhood, and without which he could not conceive the all. possibility of any religious worship at
us the phenomenon presents nothing either Our difficulty rather is even to or singular. realise the celebration of those sacrifices, which once
4.
To
difficult
obtained almost universally throughout the world, and which were once regarded as the true modes of approach
ing the
Supreme Being, under whatever form He was conceived, and with whatever attributes He was clothed. 5. The traveller, it is true, in lands still heathen, will
discern traces of this once universal ritual,
countries
calling themselves
but in
is
all
say amongst the most enlightened and cultivated nations of the present day, it has not only ceased, but, in spite of
all
Christian,
that
to
the violent reactions of nearly two thousand years, has never, as a form of national worship, been perma
nently restored.
6.
But
it
will
more
7.
clearly
be well perhaps to endeavour what we say has disappeared.

then,
to realise
form,
of religious
in the
away, which the oldest Book
worship has passed world represents as
prevailing at the very infancy of the
human
race,**
and
which once gave employment to thousands and tens of thousands of a particular caste in the Mosaic Tabernacle,
in the costlier
and Herod,
in the temples of classic
and more enduring structures of Solomon Greece and imperial
Rome.
8.
was once equally

*
form of religious worship has passed away, which Father of the accepted by the
"
Gen.
iv.
viii.
20
xii. 7,
Job
i.
xlii. S.
<5
Difficulties

Israel,
faithful,"
by the sweet Psalmist of
by the Grecian
statesman, and the
magistrate ; which was once inextricably entwined with all the more solemn epochs of
Roman
man s
with
all
domestic
the most
life
birth,
momentous epochs
and marriage, and death ; in his national and

cities,
political life
the foundation of
the ratification of
treaties, the declaration of war, the celebration of solemn
triumphs
with
all
the most powerful emotions of his

life
personal and and sorrows,

of
guilt, his
9.
religious
his
hopes and
fears, his
joys
his hours of
despondency,
his consciousness
yearning for restoration to the Divine favour.
form of religious worship has passed away, to which men once resorted almost instinctively, whether
they desired to acknowledge the power and supremacy of the Deity they adored, to present him with some pledge of homage and subjection, to return thanks for
gifts
received or protection afforded, to deprecate anger, or to implore reconciliation, and without the intervention of which, in some form or other, it is hardly too much to
say that once no morning dawned, no evening closed, no public entertainment was celebrated, no private meal was
eaten,
in,
no
10.
no harvest was housed, no vintage was gathered sin was expiated, and no ceremonial impurity was
In other matters, nations and
it is
removed.
tribes
have differed
this habit of
it
as widely as
sacrifice
possible to conceive.
In
they have been as one.
And
yet, universal as
once was, it is now unknown to the civilised world. This is a fact, brought home to us by our daily expe
procession of sacrificial victims, the them of before the altar, the sprinkling of slaughtering
rience.
The solemn

their
blood upon the
offerer,
the sacrificial feast that
followed
past,
and poems of Homer, or the
these things are with us entirely matters of the whether we read of them in Jewish history, or the
narrative of Livy, we experience the utmost difficulty in realizing to ourselves that they
ever obtained amongst men.

11.
Now
it
does not require a very extended acquaint

nature to
ance with
arid
human
know
that of all habits, ideas,
associations,
none
retain
their
ascendancy more
pertinaciously over man than those which concern as a religious being.*

12.
him
And
yet,
in
though the most ancient
reference to one religious custom, and the most universal of all,
for the sake of which, indeed, priests, altars,
and temples
around
originally
came
into being, f
we have only
to look
us to be confronted with a spectacle of a change so complete and overmastering that it would fill us with
astonishment
to day.
if
we were not accustomed
to
it
from day
III.
I.
have already observed that
this
remarkable revo
traced back to a
lution of thought
and
feeling
may be
period not lost in a hazy antiquity, but to one strictly within the domain of history, to a period which had its
records,
and its monuments. Important as be found to be hereafter, I propose first to notice another feature of this religious revolution, which is no less striking and no less deserving of attention.
its
archives,
this fact will
*
1
This
is
fully
s
acknowledged by Renan, Les Afdtres, chap,

Gentile
xvii.
Bellinger
and Jew,
i.
225.
8
2.
Difficulties
the ancient sacrifices,
Without entering upon the question of the origin of it may be asserted without fear of
contradiction that they were to a considerable extent based upon a sense, more or less real, of personal short
coming
that they were gifts,
whereby man sought
to
make good his imperfect consecration of himself to his Maker that they represented the conviction that some
;
thing over and above mere repentance was needed to expiate the consequences of guilt*
3. Now to the practice of sacrifice the great exception found, as is well known, in the system of Buddhism. But along with sacrifice Buddhism rejects the notion that
is
lay at the root of
it, namely, that past sin presents any objective obstacle to man s reconciliation with God.f If, then, among the nations of Christendom, together
man s
be a
with the cessation of sacrifice there had passed away also conviction of personal shortcoming, there would
consistency in the revolution,
and
the disappearance of
the conviction
would account
in
a great measure for the
disappearance of the sacrifical observance. Has the conviction of per 4. But is this the case ? sonal shortcoming vanished from the midst of Christen
like the phantom of a troubled dream ? So far is from being the fact, that it may be safely said there has never been a time when the conviction of sin has
this
dom
been more and
more
intensified
amongst
the
most
cultivated nations than during the last eighteen

years.
hundred
* Butler
Analogy, Part
II.
chap. V.
5 ; Hardwick s Christ And Donndlan Lectures, p. 90.
f Kreuger, Symbolik, i. Masters^ ii. 60 ; Macdonnell
2,
oihc*
in accounting
for Historical Christianity.
moment
this I do not seek to depreciate for a the feeling upon this momentous subject which I would undoubtedly existed in the ancient world.
5.
In saying
acknowledge
freely the sense of
inward contradiction, and
of the awful power of conscience expressed by many of I would give their full force the wisest of the heathen.
to all those
sin
proverbs in ancient writers which represent
as
gression
disharmony, as spiritual bondage, as the trans of limits prescribed by Virtue, as inflicting

soul, as entailing terrible
wounds upon the

in 6.
consequences
the world to come.
But no one
will
deny
that all this has
been
"
infinitely
deepened and
intensified.
The very word
Sin
"
has
acquired a meaning such as it never bore in the mouth of the greatest of the moral teachers of Greece and
Rome.
mournful catalogue of terms based on a great variety of images has been employed in writings of in spired authority to set forth its heinousness and disastrous
effects.
A
is
which
stricter
code of morality has been promulgated, than the strictest requirements of the
Mosaic Law, and brings out, as was never done before, the infinite distance between the guilt-laden sinner and
the infinitely holy Creator.
Words have been reverbe

doctrines,
rating through the last eighteen centuries

laws, into proverbs,
passing into never passing away demanding the obedience of the heart and soul, as well as of the hand and tongue.
into
but
7.
of
men
These words have found a lodgement in the breasts like no other words before or since. They have
still
exercised and are exercising Moreover, on the authority
a momentous influence.
of the voice that uttered
to
Difficulties
has been invested with a more real and myste import than ever was associated with it in the Not only is it the portal of another life, ancient world.
them,
life
rious
but beyond
it
lies
an awful tribunal before which

the
all
must stand.
Judgment Seat of no shadowy yEacus or Rhadamanthus, but of One who trieth the very hearts and reins* and who will judge every man
It is
according to the deeds done in the body.} 8. I do not here assume that these convictions have
exercised anything like an adequate effect on the lives and actions of men, but I say they have exerted an effect such as never was known before the modern era,
and they have gone far to foster a national conscience, and to deepen the sense of individual responsibility. There may be much in modern society to startle and
alarm any
who
will
look below the surface.

is
There may
be times when the philanthropist
the reality of any progress at all, sigh almost in despair over the grossest violations of
justice
tempted to doubt and the moralist to
and honesty.
sin
But, taken as a whole, there never
was a period when

infirmity
9.
was less generally regarded with or the consciousness of it less deemed an indifference,
and an
illusion.
is
not be disputed that man what he has been from the beginning.
It will
"
now mainly
He
is
still
being subject to all the vicissitudes of earthly existence ; cometh up and is cut down like a flower;" he he still
"
s.till
has but a short time to live and

vii. 9.
is full
of misery
* Ps.
1
"
We live
in a
f world which
Cor.
iv.
2 Cor. v. 10.
is full
and the plain duty of each and
all
of misery and ignorance^ of us is to trv and make tha
//;
accounting for Historical Christianity.
n
confesses
he
still
acknowledges the
inability of the things of time

;
and sense
entirely to satisfy his longings
he
still
by the voice of his greatest poets the nothingness of his highest glory,* and he has often testified by the terrible
earnestness of his penances and self-tortures that the side of his life most full of suffering is the religious side,f and that,
great as he
may
be,
he yet contains within him some
profound source of misery. J

10. And yet, though the conviction of personal short coming has been thus deepened and intensified, the
ancient sacrificial ritual has never succeeded in regaining its hold. Though man has never constructed for himself
a religion of despair, yet during the last eighteen hundred years he has never sought relief in a system which was once almost universally recognised as the proper
means
still is
for seeking reconciliation with God. Though he conscious that he is not as he ought to be, yet this
sense of demerit has not restored the sin and trespasslittle
less ignorant,
corner he can influence somewhat less miserable, and somewhat than it was before he entered Prof. Huxley.
it."
"
Read Johnson
Vanity of
Human
and mode of giving them sublime.

true."
Wishes; all the examples Tis a grand poem, and so
"If all that the old poets have Byron s Diary, 1821. sung, in isolated passages, of the miseries of existence ; if all those sad songs of a truly terrible view of the world which the notion of a
blind fate has scattered amidst the legends and histories of various nations in deeply significant tragedies were collected into one
picture,
lasting earnestness, the peculiarity of the Indian
and the transitory and poetic fancy exchanged for true and view of life would
be
best comprehended." Fr. Schlegel, Ueber dcr Sprache Weisheit der Inder, quoted in Luthardt, 338 n. f Ackermann s Christian Element in Plato, pp. 203207.
t Pascal, PmsleS)
ii.
und
88, 104.
12
Difficulties
offerings of the Jew, or brought

sacrifices of the Gentile,
back those propitiatory
which were once, especially in seasons of national or domestic calamity, multiplied with
such
frightful prodigality,
and prompted man to surrender
even the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul. IT. Here, then, we are confronted with another and
very singular feature of the religious revolution we are Sacrifices, we know, formed a part uni considering.
versally of ancient worship.
confessedly weak.
How
is
it,
The sense of Sin was then now that it has been so

ritual
strengthened and
developed, that the old
has
passed away? It will scarcely be pretended that it con If there be any cerned the mere surface of man s life.
emotions, deep, serious, and permanent, in the human breast, they are those which prompted these modes of
bridging over the gulf
Creator.
between the creature and

this
his
What has caused

feeling ?
surprising
change of
man<
thought and
To
say that the sentiment of
was gradually alienated from and that imperial decrees* forbade the ancient rites only removes the The question still difficulty a single step backwards.
kind
remains, whence came the feeling that inspired the
lation,
legis
and how comes
it
to
pass
that
legislation,
in
religious matters notoriously
weak and incompetent, has
succeeded in thus effectually eradicating a system once

so universal
?
IV.
conclude, then, that with the ancient sacrificial ritual the ancient sacrificial phraseology has
I.
May we
* Like those of Theodosius, A.D. 381

notes.
Gibbon,
iii.
413, and
in accounting

"
13
"
disappeared also
and
trace
"offering,"
"
victim Are such expressions as "oblation" and satisfaction," "pro

"
"
pitiation
and
"
them only
Do we utterly unknown ? as relics of a vanished world of thought

atonement
Pentateuch or the writings of Livy ? naturally have expected, what on
in the pages of the

2.
What we might
every ground of probability we had almost a right to Sacrifices have passed away, expect, has not taken place. sacrificial terms remain, and they not only remain, but
selves
they have found a centre, round which they group them ; they have found a fact of history, to which they
have been transferred.

3.
There
exists at this
day
in
every part of Europe,
and
single Rite, that of the
and America, one Lord s Supper, which alone ap proximates to the complex system that has passed away. 4. It has been celebrated for eighteen hundred years. However it may have come, whencesoever it may have
in various parts of Asia,
Africa,
come, here
it
is.
"
It
storms and revolutions.
has lasted through a great many The Roman Empire has passed
society has risen out of
its
away
ruins.
modern European
Political systems
have been established and over
Even the physical world has undergone mighty alterations, and our conception of its laws is altogether
thrown.
changed."*
But
this
Rite
still
survives.
Mann ers,
all.
habits,
modes of thought,
this
theories, opinions, philosophies,
have changed. 5. But does

recall also
This Rite has outlived them
mode,
in
which the Rite

?
is
celebrated,
it
the old sacrificial habit
Would
ii.
in
any
Maurice
Kingdom of Christ,
5.
14
Difficulties
degree remind a Greek of the days of Pericles, or a Roman of the time of Augustus, of the ancient ritual ?
The
ceremonial to which they had been accustomed from
their earliest years
was extremely complex. The victim, adorned with garlands, was led up to the altar; meal and salt were mixed and crumbled over its head ; a libation
of wine was poured out
;
the victim was slain
its
blood
was poured on and about the altar; certain portions were burnt with wine, meal, and incense, and the rest of the
flesh
6.
was distributed
to the people.
Of all
this
how much
and
survives in this Rite
What
its
are the outward
visible signs presented
during
celebration to the eyes of the worshippers ? Suppose the pro-praetor of Bithynia had been present at one of those
meetings of the early Christians which he describes in his letter to the Emperor Trajan, and about which he was so
have beheld
the light of
anxious, what tokens of any sacrificial ritual would he ? In some upper room, perhaps, lit up with
many
torches, or the
first
rays of the rising
sun,* he would have seen couches laid and the walls hung, after the manner of the East,f for a harmless
banquet. J To this meal the rich would have contributed of their abundance and the poor of their poverty, and all
would be joining
in
it
after the offering of prayer
with singleness of heart. Then, and the reading of holy writings
and exhortation to a godly life, he would have seen Bread brought in and placed before some elder amongst He would the company, and likewise a cup of Wine.
*
"Ante
lucem,"
Plin.
Ep.
xcvi.
f Stanley on
Cor.
xi
vol.
i.
=49i Plin. Ep. xcvi.

$
Comp.
Justin.
ApoL
cap. Ixv.
in accounting
15
have seen the Bread solemnly blessed, broken, and eaten. He would have seen the Wine solemnly blessed, poured
out,
7.
and drunk by those assembled.
Now,
it is
true that in ancient times,

efficacious
though the
sacrifice,
it
victim
itself
was the
element of
was offered with and by means of bread and wine, and that mealtime and sacrifice were so essentially connected even the modes of expressing the two acts together that
"
were frequently interchanged. * 8. But what thoughts would have instantly risen in the mind of the pro-praetor ? What question would he most
If this have put ? Would he not have asked, is a solemn meal, a religious feast, when and where was The victims for our the sacrificial victim offered ?
"
certainly
sacrifices find
few purchasers, the temples are abandoned, the sacred rites are neglected ; where is He whom ye
>;
worship,! and what is the sacrifice ye are celebrating? what would have been the reply 9. To such a question,
of any Christian in his province ?
"
Would he not have
This Meal, whereof we partake, is a sacred Feast, said, instituted by Him, from whom we are called Christians.
.
He commanded
"
Bread
to
by us in memory of His Death, which upon the Cross ?

10.
be eaten, and Wine to be drunk He underwent
Christian of Bithynia would undoubtedly have
* For the religious importance attached by Jews to the actions of breaking bread and pouring out wine, even at a common meal, see
Lightfoot
s Temple Service ; Godwyn s Moses and Aaron, pp. 89,90; The Book of Jewish Ceremonies, by Gamaliel Ben Pedahzur, pp. 51 s;6; Cudworth s True Notion, chap. i.
"
Carmenque Cluisto quasi Deo
dicere,"
Plin.
Ep.
xcvi.
Difficulties
gone on to say more upon the subject to his inquirer.* But the answer, even as far as it goes, brings out a very remarkable feature in reference to this Rite. It claims
to rest not
objective, historical fact,
upon any conception or theory, but upon an and this fact is the death of its
Institutor*
The disappearance 11. Now this is deserving of note. of an ancient, time-hallowed mode of religious worship is a fact of history. The celebration of this Rite is a facl
of history, the rise
to
and
origin of which can
be traced back
certain, definite period,
12.
We
great deal. are relegated, then, for an explanation of the
of which
we know a
origin of this unprecedented Rite, not to a land of hazy
shadowy mythology, but to one where we can our plant footsteps on solid ground. This Rite claims to rest within historic times on 13.
theories or
the death of a Person.

it
did not.
If
it
did, there
it
Either this death took place, of must have been circumstances
connected with
utterly unlike
any othe^ that has taken
place in history, if we are to account for its commemora tion ever since by means of the reception of Bread and
Wine, to which Jew and Gentile alike attached a solemn
and even a
religious importance.
V.
I.
Who,
it,
then,
instituted this
Rite?
When
did
He
institute
and under what circumstances ?
The answer
to these enquiries
Churches
is not a matter of All the dispute. that have received the Symbol, Latin or Greek,
* The question of a higher or lower view of the Eucharist is not material to the argument. The question is, What is the meaning o)
the Rite at all ?
in accounting
1 7
Catholic or Protestant, whatever other view they may take of it, agree in referring it to one and the same Person,
and
2.
to
one and the same time.

Institutor
it is
The
writers,
and
the testimony of Christian strengthened by every incidental notice

is
such
of the facts which occurs in profane authors appeared about eighteen centuries and a half ago, during the reigns of the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius, in Palestine, an
Roman Empire. Apparently He was of the humblest origin. His reputed father was a carpenter of Nazareth, a town hidden
obscure corner of the ancient
3.
away amidst the Galilean hills, unknown and unnamed in the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures. His mother was a Jewish maiden of Bethlehem in Judaea, who lived at Nazareth. Here for thirty years the Institutor of this mysterious Rite grew up, sharing with the town its seclusion and obscurity, far removed alike from the stir and bustle of the great capitals of the Empire, and the
disputes of the theological schools of His native land. 4. When the thirty years of seclusion were over, He
left
His humble home and came forth as a Teacher

after
of
a while gathered round Him a small body of disciples of equally humble origin as Himself peasants, publicans, fishermen of Galilee.
His countrymen, and
5.
To
these His followers
He
endeared Himself by a
life
of self-sacrificing devotion to their highest interests.
With them
visited
He
went about amongst His countrymen.

their
He
towns, their villages, and addressed Himself as a teacher to all classes, rich and
their
capital,
poor, learned
*
and unlearned.*
miracles
For the sake of the argument, the supernatural element involved

Saviour
s
is
in the
not here pressed.
t8
Difficulties
has been already* noticed, has 6. His teaching, it It exercised a very remarkable influence in the world.
combined
terrible severity against sin with infinite

;
tender
ness towards sinners
it
united a marvellous simplicity
with a claim unhesitatingly and unfalteringly urged to an absolutely boundless authority! over the minds and souls
provoked determined opposition. denunciations of hypocrisy, pretence, and formalism,

of men.
But
it
Its
its
assertion, never retracted or modified, of the Speaker s natural title to universal royalty and coequality with God, J
Him the most powerful classes of His and they resolved to compass His death. countrymen,
arrayed against
7. tell
The
us that
extant biographies of the Institutor of this Rite He was well aware of the deepening intensity
of this opposition.
against
Him, and
He saw the tide setting in steadily He never disguised from His followers
Milman s History of Christianity, i. 189. makes everything depend upon His person; in fact, His person is His matter. When He would most emphatically assure or confirm, His words are, Verily, verily, I say unto you. We are to believe His words, not because of the truth of their matter, but because of the dignity of His person and yet He was the meekest Luthardt s Fundamental Truths,^. 284; Liddon s Bampof men
f
"Jesus
"
* See above, p. 4, and
166 179; see also the comparison in between Christ and Socrates in Ecce Homo, pp, 94, 95.
ton Lectures,
"
this respect
J John v. 17, 18. Into the question of their authenticity and genuineness it is not necessary to enter here. That the three earliest Gospels at any rate
and that they had before the middle of the second century acquired a sacred authority, may be regarded as a conclusion which has been wrung from the inevitable
existed before the siege of Jerusalem,
candour of reluctant
Christ, pp. 51
,
adversaries."
Farrar
Witness of History
ta
53.
19
its
inevitable issue.
It
and
ness,
earnest
conversation with
formed the subject of frequent Without the them/
slightest trace of misgiving,
He
and with an unearthly calm never faltered in His declaration that on His
death depended the most momentous issues alike to His disciples and to the world at large.
At length the hatred and opposition of the ruling powers reached its climax, and they were enabled, owing to the treachery of one of His own disciples, to ensure
8.
His delivery into their hands. The evening before their designs were carried out was the Eve of the Passover,
the great historic Festival of His countrymen.
Jerusalem
was crowded with strangers and pilgrims from every The hills around were whitened quarter of the world.
with countless flocks of sheep and lambs ready for the morrow s Festival. The Institutor of the Rite we are
examining had made careful preparation! for celebrating this Feast with twelve of His more immediate followers,
and on the evening in question He celebrated it with them according to the custom of the nation. 9. The end, which He had foreseen, and of which He had so often spoken, was now close at hand. But He
was neither perturbed, nor alarmed, nor anxious to retract or modify any of His boundless claims. Calmly and as He the Festal Meal took, quietly, proceeded, one of
the unleavened cakes that
as Master of the Feast,
had been placed before Him and giving thanks, He brake it,
"
and gave
*
xvii.
it
to them, saying
;
Take,
31
;
eat,
This
21,
is
My body,
(2.)
(l)
Matt. xvi. 21
;
Mark
viii.
Luke
Matt.
ix.
22
Matt.
9 ; Mark ix. 9 Luke ix. 44 ; t Matt. xxvi. 1719 ; Mark xiv.
(3)
x. 33, 34.
1216;
Luke
xxii. 7
-13.
2o
which
is
Difficulties

do this in remembrance of
"
given for you ;
Me."
Afterwards
in
ye
He took a cup of wine, and having given thanks Drink like manner, He gave it unto them, saying all of this; for this Cup is My Blood of the New
which
is
Covenant,
shed for you
and for many for
the remission of sins ; this do as oft as
in
ye shall drink it, remembrance of Me? The 10. Such was the institution of the Eucharist.
evening on which it was instituted deepened into night, but before the following morning dawned He who insti
tuted
did
was apprehended by His enemies. Their malice worst; He was dragged from one tribunal to another ; He was beaten, buffeted, spit upon, and at last
it
its
He
was led out to
crucifixion,
and
He
died the death of
the malefactor
11.
and the
slave.
is
The
fact of
His death
recorded in each of the

into the minute
four biographies of Christ.
However condensed they

"
may be
Cross.
in other portions, they

diary,"
expand
particularity of a
as they
The
historical fact of
approach the foot of the His decease is mentioned
by
later authors as
a matter of
common
age,
notoriety,
and
it
gave point to the opprobrious

first
epithets applied to the
disciples.
In an historical
which had
its
archives,
its registers,
and
its
monuments, the fact was

is
always accepted,
1 2.
and never
"
disproved.
Now,
in the annals of the world,
there anything
really parallel to this ?
Other founders of systems or societies have thanked a kindly Providence for shroud
ing
from
their gaze the vicissitudes of

this Rite,
literally
coming
all
time."
But the Institutor of

appearance
though to
outward
He
stood
alone in the world, though
in accounting
amongst the little band of his attached followers He had none on whom He could lean, or from whom He could
receive the slightest real sympathy or support, though in the immediate foreground of His future was an awful and humiliating death, yet was so far from deeming this any
hindrance to His plan of establishing a Universal Kingdom,

that
to
He
actually
made
!
provision for
its
commemoration
hope and every anticipation of His followers, He established the commemoration of that disappointment in a mysterious
Ordinance, and
celebrated
*
!
all
future
time
About
to disappoint every
directed that
it
should
be universally
VI.
1.
mains that
Marvellous and unparalleled as this is, the fact re this Rite has been uninterruptedly observed.
The
2.
is
anticipations of the Institutor have
been
fulfilled.
Now
it
will
be allowed without hesitation that there
nothing so rare as to find any religious system which is capable of transcending the limits of race, clime, and the
scene of
its
historic origin
transplanted, will
a religious system which, if ; not quickly vanish away, which by any

"
never before had Jesus stood at so lofty a height as at the moment of instituting the Lord s Supper. With a violent death before Him, expecting from His disciples, in their weakness of character, neither help nor comfort, without pros
pect for the victory of His cause from man, thrown with liis hopes and expectations only upon His heavenly Father, and upon the trutli
* Even Schenkel admits that
and power inherent in His life and works, and uniting with all this such elevated repose, such still submission, and also such perfect patience with him who at this very moment was meditating the
basest treachery
"
Schenkel, p. 278,, E. Tr.
23
Difficulties
permanence can prove itself anything better than a mere local or national outgrowth of superstition. 3. But this Rite, though it is utterly unlike anything
real
ever thought
of,
invented, or taught before, though
it
commemorates a cruel and ignominious Death, though that Death was the disappointment of every hope and every anticipation of the first disciples, has been found
capable
of universal
its
transplantation,
historic origin
it
has transcended
alike the scene of
race and clime,
and wherever
and the limits of has been received and
celebrated the multiplied sacrifices of antiquity have retired before it into the darkness of oblivion.
4.
Now we can
can
tell
trace back this revolution to
its
source.
We
"
when
the
old
system
gave
signs
of
vanishing away," and the new Symbol, so unique and It is not a point unprecedented, began to take its place. so distant that we strain our minds in vain to realize it
amidst the mists of a hoary antiquity. It is not a period of which we have no certain records or memorials. It
produced historians of good repute, whose narratives of
own time are universally accepted as It was a period in which the authentic and trustworthy. transactions of every province within the limits of the
the events of their
"
Macedonian and then Roman Empire the bar and the acts of Herod among the number were the objects of research and careful narration, by natives of the soil as well as by
late
barian, so termed, as well as the Grecian,
strangers."*
* Mill
Pantheism,
;
Aids
to
Faith, p. 71
II. ii. sect. II ; Eclipse of Faith, p. 210 Restoration of Belief, pp. 40, 41 ; Sherlock
Trial of the Witnesses, Discourse
iv.
360.
in accounting
23
5.
To
represent, therefore, that this Rite
can be re
garded as
is
to
facts
embodying a gradually developed Mythology, ascribe it to causes utterly inadequate to meet the There is no known instance of a of the case.
mythical history growing up in such an age,* under such circumstances, and with the rapidity we know it spread amongst Christian societies of many different nations
supposes
and languages. A Rite of such marked peculiarity pre an act of institution. Its universal spread
presupposes a general acquaintance with the history of The first Christians were neither mystic the institution. enthusiastic dreamers, nor weak and credu philosophers,
men. They were not likely to accept the history on mere hearsay, nor to celebrate a Rite so strange and unique without some adequate explanation. Men do not or vaguely lightly take up a creed which hits their fancy, embodies their aspirations, at the cost of their lives, and
lous
with the certainty of being exposed to danger, suffering,
and persecution. 6. But when we look

of this Rite as
it
at the history of the institution
remembered
conciseness.
to us, and it is to be no other account of it, we cannot but be struck with its remarkable brevity and
has
come down
is
that there
Considering
its
all it
was designed to import,

character as
considering
utterly
unprecedented
* "The idea of men writing mythic histories between the time of Livy and Tacitus, and St. Paul mistaking such for realities In the whole sphere of criticism there is no Arnold s Lifet ii. 58. absurdity more uncritical than the idea that a rite which universally
"
"
and gradually, espe prevailed should have grown up accidentally Ebrard, Gospel History. cially a rite of such marked peculiarity."
p. 40:).
24
Difficulties
Jewish
of
institution, considering the
shock which the idea
commemorating
the death of a Crucified Messiah must
necessarily have involved to the
mind of every Jew,
it
is
brief to a degree perfectly astonishing.
We
find
nowhere
any long, laboured, and specific justification of its in stitution. We find nowhere any minute and circum
stantial directions as to the
method of
its
such as
we
find in the Apostolic constitutions.
celebration, * In
the
Evangelic narrative the account is brief, simple, and In those documents the particularity of direction artless.
is
like that of
"
modern
rubric."
7. Paley has noticed these features of the narrative as If the account had strong proofs of its genuineness.
"
been
full
:
feigned,"
it
he remarks, it would have been more would have come nearer to the actual mode of
"
celebrating the Rite, as that in Christian Churches; and
mode
it
obtained very early
would have been more
formal than
it is."f To this we may add, that it is too brief, simple, and concise for a scheme resting either on imposture or on an eclectic Mythology. The super
structure
tions
is
as these.
for the
too solid and weighty to rest on such founda The simplicity of the account is too
grand
impostor or the enthusiast, and we will now our conclusion from the facts we have reviewed. present 10. The early Christians must have been able to give
some adequate account of the historical facts of the case^ before they could either have celebrated themselves or
taught others in different lands to adopt a Rite so novel
* See Paley
s Evidences^
I. vii.
3.
J More substantial than the
teinte de
f Ibid. Part II. chap. iii. suave mysticiti, which Renan
ascribes to their imagination, Vis de Jesus, chap, xxiii.
in accounting
25
and unprecedented as this. The historical fact this Rite proclaims was their Master s cruel and ignominious death; and He ordained it to proclaim His death.
never
after it took place and this we know has been disproved He passed away and was no more seen ; if between His death and the celebration of
Now,
if
the Rite
by the first disciples there was no intervening event to link the one thing with the other the celebra tion of this Rite, at such an age of the world s history,
and by those who celebrated it, is, on natural principles, more miraculous and more inexplicable than anything
that ever occurred in the world.
VII.
1.
Was
death of the Institutor and

disciples ?
there any event, then, intervening between the its celebration by the first
Was
their
there anything which transfigured the

s
shame of
2.
Master
Death, and presented the whole

place has
action in a
new light ? Their own conduct when that Death took
been described minutely with the most
artless simplicity.
When He
died, the Evangelic narratives admit that one alone of the Apostles was standing by His Cross,* that one had denied with an oath he had even known Him,f
that all
had forsaken
Him and
They
fled.J
This
is
their
own
account of the matter.
neither hide nor disguise,

it.
they neither palliate nor excuse

John xxi. 25,26. t Matt. xxvi. 6975
John
xviii.
With singular open-
Mark
xiv.
66
72
Luke
xxii.
54
62
1527.
% Matt. xxvi. 56-
26
Difficulties

dwell upon the
ness, with surprising particularity, they
story of their
3.
own cowardice and

had
faithlessness.
What
interest they
in describing themselves as
worse than they really were it is difficult to see. But if then they were cowards, stupefied with sorrow and over whelmed with despair, what made them bold afterwards ?
If before they never could bear the idea of their Master s
it took place were crushed to the earth with disappointment, with what conceivable object could they have joined within a very short period in this Eucharistic Feast, and that in the very city where He died ?*
Death, and when
Why
did they ever rally together again to
commemorate
His Death, and to proclaim by a symbolical action the sad fate of One, whom they had given up everything to fol
low, but in
4.
whose grave every hope was now buried ? adequate and consistent explanation of these Is there one such produ extraordinary facts is needed.
An
cible?
5.
There
is
one, which, in spite of obloquy, contempt,
cruel persecution, the first disciples made it the busi ness of their lives to proclaim, which every extant letter
and
of every Apostle, and every author contemporaneous with the Apostles, of the age immediately succeeding them,
and every Christian writer from
that age to the present, concur in representing as a fact no less historical than that of the death of the Institutor of the Eucharistic
Feast.
6.
The
ii.
Evangelists inform us that

46
;
when He
died,
His
* Acts
to this
xx. 7,
n.
Why
also did they continue to attach
Meal even the

?
"mystic
sense"
which Renan admits, Let
ApStres, chap. v.
/;/
accounting for Historical Christianity.
27
tomb.*
even
to
Body was taken down from They are careful

what object
it is
the Cross
to
and
it
laid in a
new
with
that
impress
unless
upon us
was true
difficult to see,
this act
of kindness and consideration was due not

to secret disciples
any of the Apostolic body, but
and
comparative strangers.
In that tomb the Holy Body lay
during the Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night which followed the sad scene on Calvary. A sealed stone
and a guard of Roman soldiers,! we are told, protected the spot and defended it from the intrusion alike of friends and enemies. But early in the morning of the third day,
a day which ever since has been observed, J that stone was found to have been rolled away, and the sepulchre
was discovered empty.

7.
fact
more momentous
it is
possible to conceive, but as a fact

all
doubt, and
it is im was placed beyond related with the same simplicity, calm
in
its
it
significance
ness,
and absence of
life
strain
and
effort as
any other
inci
dent in the
less is
of the Lord.
the narrative at this
Indeed, so simple and art point, so blended is it with
confessions
that as
of
fear,
we read
the record
doubt, misgiving, and incredulity, we almost forget the marvellous
features of the occurrence,

its
and can with
difficulty realize
exceptional character.
||
* Matt, xxvii.
5761; Mark
Aio
KO.\
xv.
4247;
rrjv
Luke
xxiii.
5056;
els
John
xix.
3842.
&yofj.fv
v/
f Matt,
K venpuv.
i.,
xxvii.
6266.
% Barnab. Ep. xv.

ev^pofftvyv, ev
\
ij^pav rty oyddyv
o Irjffovs hvtffTT)
Thus much Renan, Les

Westcott
s
Apotres^ chap
and Schenkel,
p. 311,
admit.
(I
Gospel of the Resurrection, p. 157.
28
8.
Difficulties
But
if
the sepulchre
had been laid therein ? had risen, and by many

of the reality of the
was empty, where was He who He was no longer there,* He
infallible proofs
He
s
fact.
On
the world
first
gave token Easter
Day He show Himself to Mary Magdalene,!

ministering women, J to St. Peter,
to
to the other
two
disciples jour
neying towards Emmaus,|| to ten of the Apostles in the
upper room
at Jerusalem, when St. Thomas was absent. 11 Eight days afterwards He manifested Himself to them
that Apostle was present.** Subsequently He was seen by seven of their number on the lake of Gennesaret,ft then by St. James, JJ then by more than five hundred brethren at once on a mountain in Galilee, and lastly by
when
all
the Apostles once
more on one of the
hills
near
Bethany, where into heaven.

[|
He
was parted from them, and ascended
||
Simple as the narrative is, it is circumstantial in the details it records. Every avenue of misconception was closed up, every ground for delusion was removed. It
9.
"
was not one person but many who saw the Risen Saviour. They saw Him not only separately, but together ; not by
night only, but by day ; not at a distance, but near ; they not only saw Him, but touched Him, conversed with Him, ate with Him, examined His Person to satisfy their
Luke
xxiv. 3.
;
f John
xx.
7
n
;
J Matt, xxviii. 9, IO
Mark
xvi. 5
Luke xxiv. 34 ; I Cor. xv. 5. U Luke xxiv. 3643 ; John xx. 1925 [Mark xvi. ** ff John xxi. 124. \\ John xx. 2629.
||
18 [Mark xvi. 9 n], Luke xxiv. 4 8. Luke xxiv. 13 35.

14].
I
Cor. xv.
7.
Matt, xxviii.
U||
16
18
Cor. xv. 6.
i.
Luke
xxiv.
5053;
Acts
312.
in accounting
29
doubts."*
It is
member
of the Apostolic
conceivable that the enthusiasm of a single company could have given an
to conceive
imaginary shape to individual hopes. But it is impossible how a number of witnesses, all incredulous,!
affected in the
10.
is
and one pre-eminently so, could have been simultaneously same manner.
The
Institutor of this Rite rose from the dead.
This
the historical fact, to which the Apostles declared that
they were raised up to bear witness.

everything, their
their hopes.
life,
Upon
it
they staked
their credit,
their veracity,:}:
and
In order to proclaim it they confronted danger, suffering, and death itself in some of its most As believers in it they were obliged appalling forms.
to
become
that
life
separate from other men, to sever the ties of

family and common intercourse, to exchange holds dear for sacrifices which made life little
home and
all
better than a daily martyrdom. It is important ever to bear in mind what joining the Christian Society meant in
early times; for even
if
we allow
that the majority ot
men were
that they
at this period uncritical
and credulous, aud
of
"
were unacquainted with the rigorous demands exact science," yet it cannot be said that they were
Paley s Evidences, II. viii. It is most instructive to notice that the report of the Lord s f Resurrection was in each case disbelieved. Nothing less than sight
"
who had the deepest desire to believe the tidings and even sight was not in every case immediately convincing."
convinced those
Wcstcott
\ the
i
s Gospel of the Resurrection, p. in. Cor. xv. 15. "There is something to
him very touching
in
manner in which That he should be a

strous."
the Apostle writes this monstrous supposition. false witness a thing incredible and mon
I
Robertson
Lectures on First Corinthians, p. 253.
30
Difficulties
more credulous than men in any age have been found to be when worldly interests are in jeopardy and an entire
change of conduct be broken up, and
11.
is
demanded, when old habits have to insult, contempt, danger, and a death
life
of torment, to be confronted.*
hope of a
beyond the
grave, a prospect of
his
to
resurrection, was all that the early Christian had support him in hours which try men to the uttermost,
own
and show of what stuff they are made. If his hopes were bounded by this life only, if they were rounded off by this bank and shoal of time," then indeed he was of all men most miserable^ His life was a blunder, 3 gratuitous folly, and it is impossible but to believe that
"
the early converts weighed carefully the evidence upon which they were called to exchange ease for toil, comfort
for discomfort, quiet for perpetual danger.
12.
The more
it
the
subject
is
considered, the
more
hopeless before the vast and overmastering change which came over the entire thoughts and feelings of the Apostles after the
will
be found to reconcile with what went
death of their Master, without some intervening fact as The certain and as historically real as that event itself.
more the subject will be also found

in
is
considered, the
more hopeless
it
to reconcile
it
the celebration of the
Eucharist, considering all that
imported, and the age
celebration began, with the gradual cessation of the ancient sacrificial culttis, except on the supposition
which
its
that something occurred
between the Passion and the
* vScc Butler s Analogy, part II. chap. vii. f EXeewoTe/acH TT&VTWVV 6puTru&i> ivîv, I Cor. xV. 19.
in accounting

Rite,
observance of
this
once and
for evei the torturing
powerful enough to remove doubts which must ever
have attended the celebration of the Eucharist,

glorious
and
enough
"
to transfigure the desolation
and despair
of the Story of the Cross.*
a doctrine
splendid guess," a vague but loving hope," founded on subjective ideas, the dream of an these will not account foi facts so hard, ob enthusiast,
"
13.
jective, stubborn,
and indubitable.
They
will
not bear
the weight of the superstructure they have to support, they crumble to dust before the vastnessof the revolution for
which they have to account.

Resurrection alone
torical
"
The
Resurrection
and the
his
facts.
supplies an adequate cause, an
event sufficient to account for historical

fact with
As a
which the disciples were familiarised by
repeated proofs, it was capable of removing each linger as a Revelation of which the meaning was ing doubt
:
finally
earth,
made known by the withdrawal of Christ from the it opened a new region and form of life, the ap
prehension of which would necessarily influence all their If the crucified interpretations of the Divine promises.
Lord did
completely to
we can point to effects which answer what we may suppose to have been the working of the stupendous miracle on those who were the if He did not, to what must we look first witnesses of it
rise again,
:
* shall not say too much if we designate the Supper the climax of the ancient Christian worship, in which the congregation
"
We
celebrated
its
reconciliation with
;
God
in Christ, the
Mediator be
tween
first
God and man
and find
in its uninterrupted celebration the
of
Christ."
proof of the steadfast faith of the Church in the Divine nature Dorner c of Christ, i. 186, E. Tr.
V?
32
for
Difficulties
tection
an explanation of phenomena for which the Resut* is no more than an adequate cause ?
:
VIII.
1.
Before I close,
let
me
finally
review the
difficulties
with which
tion
we are
confronted, supposing that the Resurrec
was not a fact and the Gospel History is not true. Let us survey them calmly, and see if they do not involve conclusions more miraculous and unaccountable
than anything that has ever occurred. 2. If the Resurrection is not an historical
fact,
we
are
called
upon
to believe that plain, simple, unsophisticated
men
like the Apostles,
youth up in
sacrificial habits,
who had been trained from their who from early associations
would naturally have been disposed to exalt the ancient ritual, and did adhere to many of their ancient customs,
yet could bring themselves to assert that the entire system of sacrifice was "done away" and "fulfilled" in and
who by that death only dis appointed every hope and dashed to the ground every
through the death of One,
anticipation they had ever cherished. are called upon to believe that they could de 3. tach themselves from and persuade many others also to
We
forsake a religion which even at the final siege of Jeru* Westcott
s Gospel of the "The Resurrection, pp. nS, 119. a Christian Church being formed at all notwithstanding the shock which the idea of a crucified Messiah must necessarily have
fact of
given to the mind of every Israelite of that day, can only be explained on the assumption of the Divinity of Christ and the historical reality
of
His Resurrection.
"
Ebrard
Gospel History p. 447.

,
33
salem
with
still
of thousands
all
its
exercised an irresistible spell over the minds and tens of thousands in Palestine ; which
far-back memories
and associations could

banner of the
kindle a
fire
of enthusiasm in the heart even of the rene

:*
gade Josephus
which could
rally to the
boasting impostor Barcochab multitudes of the nation burning with zeal and filled with the enthusiasm resulting from the consciousness of past greatness and former
triumphs;! that they could forsake
all this
and persuade
others to join a Society which could offer as a com pensation for the loss of recollections so august, and of
institutions so
4.
hallowed by time,
literally nothing.
We
are called
upon
to believe that
men who
till
the
last
moment
could not bring themselves to realise the

s
possibility
of their Master
death,
who whenever He
spoke to them on the subject could not understand His words or comprehend His meaning, who on the day He died were scattered as sheep without a shepherd, every
hope buried in His grave, could within fifty days after the event be transformed into new men, with new hopes,
new
conceptions,
new
and
face persecution,
impulses, could confront danger, ascribe to a Crucified Man divine,
predicates,
monotheism though adduce no reason or

"vague impression"
which stood in direct contradiction to Jewish for such an ascription they could
justification higher at best
"enthusiastic
fancy."
than a
or an
Joseph, Bell. Jud. chap,

Agy, p. 354
"
i,
Stanley
Sermons on the Apos*
lolical
f
the
Even after the destruction of Jerusalem many Jews clung to hope of the renewal of the Temple, and the restoration of the
splendour."
services in their full
Dollinger,
ii,
416.
34
5.
Difficulties

to believe that in
We
are called
upon
an age when
neither civilisation nor philosophy had eradicated or sim plified the ancient sacrificial ritual, when men were rather
exhausting themselves in their efforts to invent some ceremony of superstition, and were seeking in cruel and revolting rites purification from guilt and ease of
fresh
mind, yet there emerged at
this period, from the centre of Judaism, a Society of men to embody in a mysterious Rite the idea that all sacrificial observances had found
their
consummation and
fulfilment
death of an obscure Galilean,
who
degrading expiated the charge of
in
the
blasphemy on the Cross.

6.
Finally,
we
are called
upon
to believe that
though
the Rite only commemorated another of the innumerable triumphs of the great conqueror Death, though it only
embodied a Disappointment, and enshrined Despair,

in spite
yet,
of the proverbial difficulty of discovering any religion which can transcend the limits of its original home, it has secured an undisputed acceptance among the
most cultured nations, and has succeeded in banishing into the darkness of oblivion one of the most deeply rooted forms of religious worship which has ever
appeared in the world.
7.
It is
see
that they remain,

unintelligible
only necessary to review these difficulties, to and for ever must remain, ab
solutely
without
the
fact
of
the
Re
accept the Resurrection as a fact as truly historical as the Passion, then we are in a position to interpret events which are notorious, which
if
surrection.
But
we
took place not in a fabulous age, but one of which we know a great deal, and which had its records, its monu-
in accounting
35
ments, and
its
archives.
We
can understand whence
came
.first
the flood of light which irradiated the minds of the
disciples,
and which revealed
to
them once
for all
the true meaning of a Death they had not before dared to contemplate or even make the subject of enquiry. 8. If we accept the Resurrection as a fact, we can
look back and see

the
how it came to pass that, in spite of shame of the Cross, the Christian Society could gather and concentrate itself around the Person and Work of Him who died thereon, and how the associations
nation,
connected with a grand historical Deliverance of a single commemorated in a Paschal Feast, could be
absorbed in the commemoration of a grander, wider,
more universal Victory.

9.
We
can look back and trace out the
This solution places us on sure and solid ground. efficient cause of the
greatest religious revolution the world has seen.
In the
Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, the Past and the Present find a common meeting pointy and shed each on
1
the other a mutual
come, that 10. But

"
That which was Perfect had light. which was in Part was done away.
if
the Resurrection
"
is
nothing higher than a
glorious guess," what hope vague impression have we in this mysterious world ? We must believe that
or a
"
its
religious history
was
for
upwards of four thousand
years a long, purposeless parenthesis of useless rites and We must believe that Judaism pointed idle ceremonies.
on
to nothing,
which was to be the
reality
and substance
* See Schlegel
Westcott
s Philosophy of History, p. 278 ; and Professor remarks on the Resurrection and History, pp. 53 134.
36
if
Difficulties
on the side of Unbelief.
its
mysterious ordinances.*
We
must believe that
there was
sacrifices
no Perfect
"
Sacrifice, for
which the ten thousand
must believe that

queror,"
of heathenism were a confused outcry. Death still remains the great
We
Con
of whose defeat no pledge event has been given

1
"
to
mankind.
10. "Nature/
says Goethe,!
tosses her creatures out
of nothingness, and tells them not whence they come or whither they go she wraps man in darkness, and makes
:
him
Is abject prostration before light." her terrible forces and inexorable laws still to remain the
for ever long for
man ? What else is left for him, if the deepest yearning of his heart has never been satisfied, if He, who died upon the Cross, still lies near a Syrian town, and His Resurrection is a dream?
only attitude for
See Archer Butler s Sermons, i. 262. "Judaism with a typified atonement may be a miracle, or a chain of miracles ; but Judaism
without
it is
a greater miracle
still."
f On the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the pledge of our redemption, see Canon Swainson s Hulsean Lectures p. 213; Archbo. Trench On the Miracles, p. 35.
^
Goethe
Aphorisms on Nature, quoted
in
Farrar
Iluhean
Lectures, p. 43 n.
THE VARIATIONS OF THE GOSPELS IN THEIR RELATION TO THE EVIDENCES AND TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY.
BY
THE
REV.
Professor
T. R.
BIRKS,
the
M.A.,
CAMR,
Cambridge,
of filoial
University of Honorary Canon of Ely Cathedral.
Philosophy in
and
Orations
oi the
Gospels
in
their Delation to the (Ebftunces
nub toJIi of Ollrastianitg,
"
HPHE
*
variations
in
the
Gospels, in the midst of
substantial unity, are

truth."
no argument against
the
original title
their
this
historical
lecture.
Such
is
is
of
The
assertion
very modest and
cautious.
But
line of
cannot do justice to my own convictions, or to the thought I wish to unfold, without going much
this purely defensive
beyond
allow,
and limited averment.

"
The
real thesis I
shall seek to establish, so far as time will
may be
stated in these words
The
unity of the
four
Gospels amidst their partial diversity, and their diversities amidst substantial unity, are a powerful argu
ment
they
for their veracity,
and the
truth of the
main
facts
record.
They
are also a proof that the writers
were guided and controlled by a higher wisdom than

their own, and thus confirm the claim of the Gospels to be viewed as a Divine message to mankind." The four Gospels, even apart from their sacred cha
racter,
have certain features
in
which they seem unique
4o
The Variations of the Gospeh
in their Relation
and without a parallel. The number of persons, of whom memoirs have been published, is very great and that of the memoirs themselves, of course, is much
;
greater
still. They vary widely in size arid extent, from In this vast multitude a few pages to several volumes. of writings, I doubt whether another instance can be
found of four memoirs, and four only, of the same person,

professedly written
by eye-witnesses of
his
life,
or their
immediate companions, each complete in itself, so brief that six or seven would be needed to make a volume of
ordinary
size,
so closely connected that three of
them
have often been supposed to have made use of some
common document,
diction,
so distinct that friends as well as
adversaries have often ascribed to
them
partial contra
and
still
oftener entire independence,

together,
producing,
tible
when compared
and yet an almost irresis
In impression of reality, honesty, and truth. the whole range of known biographical literature, this No writings of the kind have fact seems to stand alone. left on plain and simple readers a stronger impression of
None have occasioned more difficulty to those reality. who look below the surface, compare them with each
other,
and seek
to explain in a reasonable
their differences
is
and
their
agreement.
way at once The instrument
most simple. The effect produced is constant, longThese four simple, unadorned lasting, and profound.
narratives,
amounting to
less
than three hundred octavo

faith of millions
pages, have determined
and upheld the
of readers, have inspired the great, the noble, and the wise, with thoughts and hopes full of immortality, and
have moulded the very history of the world through
sixty
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
41
generations down to the present day. Devout Christians The see and own in this great fact the finger of God. more closely they study it, the more will they find to
confirm their
faith.
And
sceptical doubters
may
is
well be
invited to turn aside
and see
this strange sight, like that
which Moses saw in the desert.
The bush
it is
so
mean
and humble
up manifestly It has been beat upon with the with a Divine glory. fierce light of opposition and hatred, and surrounded by flames of persecution; and still it abides in its lowly beauty, unconsumed and imperishable, from age to age.
size,
lit
in
form and
but
Let us
first
observe the remarkable unity of the four
Gospels in the midst of their manifold diversity.

shall
We
marks of Divine wisdom, many to their them great object, and scarcely capable adapting
find
here
clear
of being assigned to the purpose of the separate writers. I would single out these features, their fourfold character ;
their brevity, their silence, their simplicity, their
tion,
propor
a
their selection of
issue, rising
minor incidents,
of
their
common
aim and
through facts
history into
message of religious
faith.
The first and simplest view of the Evangelists is that they are witnesses to the truth of certain facts, on which Now the rule the whole fabric of Christianity depends. of common sense and of the Jewish law is the same, that
"
in the
mouth of two
be
established."
or three witnesses shall every word single Gospel, of the same length as
all their details,
the four
we now
have, and including
would by no means answer the same end, and supply the historical basis which is needed, where the superstructure
is
of such immense importance.
There would then be
42
The Variations of
the Gospels in their Relation
no concurrence of testimony.
rest
The building of our faith, instead of resting harmoniously on four pillars, would
on one
pillar alone.
The
principle laid
down
alike
by Divine and human law would be set aside ; and, how ever honest the solitary witness might be, his testimony
would be wanting in the simplest, the most usual, and And hence, the most decisive mode of confirmation. while some histories of the Old Testament are confirmed
only by fragmentary repetition in other books ; and others occur in a double narrative, as in Samuel, Kings,
and Chronicles
and some in a threefold account, as the Assyrian invasion and overthrow; a fourfold witness, exceeding the alternative of two or three witnesses
;
prescribed in the law, is reserved for the Gospel record alone as the crowning and most vital part of the
whole sacred
distinct
history.
This could be no plan of the

sign of
its
earlier Evangelists.
No
contemplation, as a
purpose of the writer, appears even in the fourth Gospel, where there is no mention of the three which had already appeared. But a wisdom higher than their
all plain and simple readers an substantial of evidence truth, by the direct concurrence
own has
thus secured for
of two, three,
and sometimes of four

fully
witnesses, which
in
could not have been attained so

other way.
and simply
any
A
list,
second feature of the Gospels, closely

is
allied to the
their brevity.
When
four narratives
are
given
instead of one, each of

or else the total
them needs to be more brief, may become of inconvenient length.

which
For one object
in records of such events as these,
bear a sacred character and are intended to found a
new
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity,
43
and ease of reproduction. would Gospel have been greatly inferior in practical value. It would have been more rarely copied, more seldom studied and read, and even perhaps by a very few learned students alone. Christianity would thus have been in
faith,
must be ready
accessibility
history, rivalling in size a folio volume,
danger
of
becoming
mystery,
an
esoteric
creed,
kind of
Eleusinian
in the general pealing to mankind at large.
blindly received, with no roots conscience, instead of a message ap

Its
moral worth must
have been obscured and clouded, even if it did not wholly disappear. But the Gospels, from their briet
size,
are within the reach of the learned
and unlearned
alike, and may when read by
easily be read, or heard and remembered
others,
by
all
who
really care to
become
acquainted with the great truths and facts they reveal. The Evangelists, if eye-witnesses, or intimates of eye
witnesses,
must have had access

s
its
to very large materials in
those three years of our Lord
ministry, in which, every
work and message of Divine love. Where the topic was of such absorbing interest, each of them would thus be naturally tempted to compose a very full account of the sayings and doings of One whom they loved and adored. Or, even if we assume for a moment the rival hypothesis that they were idealists and en thusiasts, who lived rather later, and whose actual mate rials were more scanty, still in such enthusiasts the same temptation would have appeared in another form. They would be prone to amplify their materials by comments, fancies, and rhetorical or poetical additions of their own ; so that their work would gain in bulk, while it lost in
day had
44
The Variations of

their
solidity,
and the rainbow hues of
own ardent
would have prolonged the narrative, and tinged a colouring due to that fancy alone.
Such a
result
it
fancy with
seems probable on either view, had the
Evangelists been common writers, these sacred memoirs of the Lord,
whom
and, in composing they so reve
renced and honoured, had been left to their own human But now, on the contrary, impulses and instincts alone.
a singular brevity marks
all
the four Gospels.
Two
of
them correspond nearly in length to eighty pages of a modern octavo, the second to only fifty, and the fourth
life,
And this in recording thirty years of a which they must have regarded with most profound interest, and three years of public labour, in which every
to sixty pages.
day had actions or discourses worthy, in lasting honour and veneration.
their view, of
Near akin
to this brevity of the Evangelists
is
their
remarkable silence.
of them give an account of the birth and infancy of the Lord Jesus, and one records a solitary visit to Jerusalem at twelve years of age. But
Two
with this one exception, all of them pass over thirty From the visit to years of His life in absolute silence.
Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary, when He stayed behind in the temple, to the opening of the Baptist s ministry, not one word is given on the life, the occu
pation, the friends, the
companions or
it
relatives, of the
Master
histories
whom
to
they loved and adored.

is
Assuming the
their
be genuine,
clear that
authors
must have had access
to a great variety of facts
and
incidents during those earlier years, of which no trace Indeed the later apocryphal appears in the narrative.
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
45
Gospels, the products of unrestrained and unscrupulous fancy, abound in supposed incidents of this very kind. The instinct of human curiosity, when freed from the
secret
control which guided

itself
the
four
sacred writers
it
indulged
impatient.
by
filling
up a void of which
reverent silence of
all
was
The common
the four
Gospels on those earlier years of privacy and retirement is one out of many signs, that they were secretly guided in their work by a wisdom higher than their own.
Another feature of the four Gospels

simplicity.
is
their historical
The
no
narrative they set before us
and unadorned.
conclusion,
There
is
is naked no independent preface or
rhetorical amplification, but only narrative
of the simplest, plainest,
They
record events
full
and most straightforward kind. of wonder, miracles of startling
grandeur, words of surprising tenderness and dignity, which must have touched and stirred the deepest chords
But the most supersti of believing and pious hearts. tious devotee hardly abstains more rigorously from food
on a
fast
ing, in their
day than the Evangelists refrain from comment own person, on the great events and sacred
In the three
first
discourses they record.
Gospels
this
In the fourth, the abstinence seems to be complete. writing of St. John in his old age, and intended plainly for
who had read one or more of the earlier Gospels, the rigour of this law is relaxed, and a few passing com ments are interposed. But even when we include the sublime and reverent introduction, and the digression in
those
chap.
xii.
on Jewish
less
even here, to
strict
unbelief, they amount altogether, than one-twentieth of the whole. This

historical
and severe
simplicity,
complete in the
46
TJic
Variations of the Gospels in their Relation
three earlier Gospels, and slightly relaxed, under special reasons for the change, in the fourth only, is wholly unlike the practice of mere enthusiasts. It implies a
secret control exercised over the
restraining
minds of the writers, them from all utterance of their own deepest emotions, and confining them to the one office of provid ing a true and faithful record of the events themselves. Another feature common to the four Gospels is their
historical proportion.
Two
the birth and infancy of our Lord. pied by this part of the narrative
the Gospels where
it
only give some account of But the space occu

is
only one-twelfth of
whole record.
appears, or just one-twentieth of the Except one brief incident in St. Luke, the
thirty years that follow are
passed over, in each
alike, in
entire
silence.
The
three years of the public ministry
occupy two-thirds
single
fourths in St. Luke,
Matthew and St. Mark, threeand three-fifths in St. John. The week of conflict and suffering at the close, with the
in St.
St. St.
appearances after the resurrection, form one-third of
Matthew and
fifths in St.
Mark, one-fourth
;
in St.
Luke, and two-
John
or one-third of the four narratives,
taken together. This one week then, with its sequel, fills as large a place in one Evangelist, and a larger in the rest, than each year, on the average, of the public
ministry.
Such a fulness
in
in this part of the record
may
it
be explained
some measure by the deep

minds of the
But
this
interest
awakened
the
first
in the
writers,
and of
their readers,
disciples.
all
proportion in
their
the four,
when combined
near approach to the same further with

is
common
silence as to all the earlier years,
a mark
of Divine unity of plan in the fourfold narrative, hardly
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
47
by human authorship alone, and which must impress every thoughtful and observant mind.
to be explained
The
large proportion of
is
narratives
common incidents or repeated another prominent feature of the Gospels.

is
Nearly every incident which

also in St.
Matthew, and
also
given by St. more than
Mark
half,
appears
perhaps
nearly two-thirds, of those which are recorded by St. Luke after the public ministry began. Now the facts and words recorded in all the Gospels must bear a small pro
portion to the events themselves.
This contrast receives
a passing notice from
St.
John
at the close of the fourth
Gospel. During the three years of our Lord s ministry each day would have had its work, or its sayings and discourses, public or private, worthy of record, and all would be of
deep interest to the first believers in Jesus as the long promised Messiah, the Incarnate Son of God. Such words or actions, we may well suppose, filled up six or
seven hours at least of every day throughout the thousand days of that public ministry. And how much, or rather
how
All the sayings four Gospels, even neglecting the plain fact that repeated records are given of the same
little,
!
has been placed on record

in the
of our
Lord
address or conversation, might be read or spoken deli
Thus it appears berately within six or seven hours only. that what is actually recorded is not one part in a hun dred, but more nearly one in a thousand, of the whole
amount of what the Lord Jesus did and spoke during His Thus the words of St. John are a very public ministry.
lawful hyperbole, that
if
the whole were recorded,

to
"
the
world would not be

should be
written."
able
contain
the
books that
48
The
VariatioJis
of
How
is it
that, while the materials in
themselves were
?o ample, the writers traverse plainly so much common ground ? The fresh facts in the third and fourth Gospels
show
clearly that
means of enlargement
their reach.
and expan
sion were within

sciously,
senting by confirming each other s testimony to the main facts of their common If the later had seen the earlier, as must narrative.
clearly
they thus fulfilled witnesses of the events,
Consciously or uncon one main purpose of con
have been the case with
St.
John,
this
does not
affect the conclusion.
One main
record
is
signally fulfilled, and,
object of a fourfold most of the selected
incidents being the same, in the mouth of two or three witnesses the words are established.
There
is
which underlies
object
reth
is is
another mark of unity, nowhere obtrusive, Their common all the four narratives.
to prove the great doctrine that Jesus of Naza And hence, unlike the the true Messiah of God.
even the Book of Acts, the personal name, used Jesus, simply throughout, almost to the exclusion This practice is uniform and constant of every other. in the two earlier Gospels, with one exception at the
Epistles, or
is
In St. Luke there are only very close of the second. about ten exceptions, and in St. John about six or seven in explanatory remarks, while the name Jesus is actually
used more
Titles of
in all
than two hundred times in either Gospel.
honour and reverence, such as occur perpetually the Epistles, must have risen spontaneously to
their lips.
from them
diversity.
That they should uniformly have refrained more than a mark of unity in the midst of It is a sign also of that secret wisdom by
is
to the
Evidences
and Initk of
Christianity.
which
these
sacred
controlled.
The hand
memoir-writers were guided and of God s Spirit was upon
them, while they wrote, and, in spite of their strong instinct of deep reverence for their Divine Master, confined them to the use of that simpler title, Jesus,
which
record.
suited
best
with the great

is
purpose
that
of their
his
An
advocate
unskilful,
and damages
guilt
own
The
The
cause,
who assumes
in
the outset
it is
or
innocence of his client which
his business to prove.
maturely their
facts
Evangelists, then, were not allowed to obtrude pre own deep convictions on their readers.
were to speak for themselves without a com
mentary.
writers, is
latest
And
"
this
design,
common
to all
the four
simply and clearly stated at the close of the

:
Gospel
These things are

is
written, that ye
7
may
that
believe that Jesus
the Christ, the
believing ye may have life The variations of the Gospels, however, have often been held to counteract the evidence of their truth and
inspiration,
Son of God, and through His name.
derived from
these
striking unity in the four narratives,

all
and other marks of and their consent in

have an
the
main
facts they reveal.
I believe that they
really,
when
closely
;
questioned,
and seen
aright,
and supply still stronger reasons, because more latent, and needing deeper thought for their detection, to prove them not only honest and veracious
opposite effect
narratives, but inspired
messages of sacred
truth.
The
subject, however,
is
too wide and inexhaustible to be
treated properly in a single lecture. I will strive to con dense as much as possible under seven or eight heads, some of the main grounds which lead me, without any
hesitation or doubt, to this important conclusion.
=ô
The Variations of
The mutual
facts or events
relation of differing witnesses to the
same
:
may be roughly classed under five varieties
dishonest and collusive agreement; honest agreement, but deceptive and illusive ; honest discordance, so wide
and deep
as to render the consent nearly worthless
like discordance so limited
and
the remaining concurrence, and
partial, as to strengthen leave the weight of the tes
timony not seriously impaired
and, last of
all,
consistent
and reconcilable
place
diversity,
which confirms
in the first
the independence
and
plurality of the witness,
and,
its
when questioned more

first
deeply, serves to establish
perfect truth.
The
case
is
that of a collusive
and fraudulent
agreement,
concert to bear false witness.

at first sight,
In
this case the
may seem more
evidence.
unless
But
perfect than with genuine the seeming perfection of the harmony,
the
witnesses are of high character, and well-
known, awakens strong suspicion, and the consent breaks down in a rigorous cross-examination on points over
looked and forgotten in the concerted story. The diver sities of the Gospels, which have perplexed believers,
and
gain.
gratified hasty adversaries,
have
at least
one clear
They exclude
this first alternative altogether.
No
dishonest compact could have produced four Gospels with so much of seeming discordance hard to explain.
is that of an agreement illusive, but In our courts of law important witnesses in a cause are not allowed to be present, while any one of them is giving evidence. It is not supposed that most
The second
case
not dishonest.
their
of them would be dishonest, and consciously garble own statements, so as to agree better with those which
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
51
they have heard. But it is wisely judged that witnesses of imperfect memory and average clearness of thought and
judgment would be biassed unconsciously by such previous

knowledge. If they wished to confirm the general drift of the previous evidence, they would emphasize points of agreement, and insensibly pass by points of difference, or
those of which their
own
first
impressions were different
and opposite. The evidence, if not rendered a mere repetition, would become more alike, or in the case of
opposing witnesses more widely divergent, than if their depositions were made in perfect ignorance of those
which had gone before. The divergences of the Gospels There is no equally exclude this second hypothesis.
result
such agreement, either collusive or illusive, as would from dishonest concert, or even from the uncon
scious moulding of independent testimony to avoid
any
far
appearance of discord and partial contradiction. Many Christian writers have carried this view so
as to maintain that the Evangelists wrote in complete in dependence, and never saw each other s writings. But
assume an improbable fact, without evidence, in order to strengthen a conclusion which results directly from the certain facts alone. The divergences of the
this is to
Gospels really prove the truth of one of two alternatives,
and do not decide between them. The first is that the later had not seen the earlier, and were wholly inde
pendent. The second is that they were witnesses too honest, too vivid, and of too high an order, to garble their own testimony, or disguise divergences in their view of
the
life they record, in order to avoid the risk of being charged with contradiction, and thus to produce on super ficial minds an impression of more complete agreement.
52
TJie
Variations of the Gospels in their Relation
Three alternatives then alone remain.

that of the honest doubter or sceptic,
The first is who thinks that
the
Gospels
contain
and these so extensive
proofs of partial contradiction, as really to damage and almost
destroy their claims to credit, even where they agree. The second is that of many Christians, more candid and
accommodating than thorough going and entire in their defence of the Gospel history. The third and last is that which has been the usual faith of the Church of
and to which I myself fully and firmly adhere, contradictions of the Gospels are apparent, not the that real ; that they change sides when closely and fairly ex
Christ,
amined, and are then transformed into more latent and decisive evidence of their common truth and Divine in
spiration.
Now in comparing the two former views, truth requires an admission to be made on either side. If the facts
recorded in the Gospels were common facts, and the case were the same as of an ordinary civil or criminal trial,
or anhistorical inquiry of the usualkind,the preponderance
in favour of the Christian advocate
would be immense
and overwhelming.
The
substantial agreement so far

as,
exceeds the partial disagreements,
when every abate

or
ment
is
made
for
alleged
inaccuracies
apparent
contradictions, to leave the
than that of any single

trustworthy.
But then,
main evidence far stronger testimony, however honest and on the other hand, the case is
be attested are special and usual cha
to
not the same.

extraordinary.
racter of
The
facts to
They depart wholly from the human experience. They profess

revelation,
be the
groundwork of a Divine
which claims the
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
53
allegiance,
and
affects the present
and
future destiny, of
countless millions of men.
The foundation
of a building
needs to be strong, in proportion to the weight of the superstructure to be reared upon it. The Gospel history,
from
its
in the evidence of
very object and nature, needs a degree of strength its truth beyond the measure of a com
in to
mon
tory.
suit at law, or
any ordinary question These writings claim indirectly
modern
his
be sacred
documents, records of a Divine message. As such they have been received and honoured by the Church in suc
cessive generations.
tradiction,
An amount
of inaccuracy and con

effect
effect of
which would scarcely have any sensible
in lowering their character,
and weakening the
their concurrence, if their contents
were of a vulgar and ordinary kind, must here assume a very different impor In the first place, it destroys at once their claims tance.
to special and Divine inspiration in the sense which Christians have usually attached to the phrase, for a God of perfect truth and holiness cannot prompt and inspire
even
partial falsehood.
And
it
even to
their substantial truth, of
forms a moral objection a very real kind. Such

vital
a message, involving results of immense and
import
ance, according as it is neglected or received, must surely demand from the wisdom of its Author some answerable
care in the
unlikely,
mode of its
delivery to mankind. It seems

it
if
truly Divine, that
most would be obscured and

it
placed in jeopardy, by entrusting

nesses,
to ill-informed wit
who on many
If the
each other.
paradox.
disprove and contradict So that these alternatives land us in a strange

details
Gospel be viewed as a purely human

is
message, the evidence
decisive
and overwhelming
to
54
The Variations of
the Gospels in thetr Relation
prove the truth of the main facts, and hence that the whole is Divine. If viewed as Divine, and the existence
of partial and repeated contradictions be allowed, there
arises at
natural claims, which
once a strong presumption against its super must tend to lower it to the rank of
an
ill-attested
and
therefore
human message.
on the other hand, the seeming contradictions are apparent only, and the variations in the four Gospels are instances of reconcilable diversity, the body and form of the history and its moral essence are in harmony with
But
if,
The apparent divergences are signs of the of every separate witness, while their agreement ; honesty
each other.
beneath the surface, when brought to light, becomes even a stronger proof than their direct and open correspon dence for the truth of their common message, and the
I
Divine inspiration under which it has been given. And if can show, under many different heads, that the variations
the
are of this character, that they are not signs of imperfect
knowledge, or
careless narrators, but are full of
chance-medley of uninformed and marks of design which
become
on the
visible only after close research, and
do not appear
surface, the thesis of this lecture will have been
abundantly, though not exhaustively proved. The mutual relation of the four Gospels as to
samenes;>
argument. Is this the result of chance and a fortuitous concourse of witnesses, if not
diversity is
and
my
first
at least vague, enthusiastic, imperfectly-in formed, or easily deceived ? Or does it yield, when ex amined, all the signs of a hidden and mysterious wisdom ?
dishonest,
may be urged, on a casual view, that much like St. Matthew, and the incidents
It
St.
Mark
is
so
are so entirely
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
55
common,
testimony
that
;
it
and that the
hardly can be viewed as a separate facts in St. John are so distinct
as hardly to confirm the other Gospels, or to be confirmed by them, but rather to awaken the doubt how a miracle
like the
raising of Lazarus could
have
been
silently
omitted by three previous writers. But now let us apply a key which the Bible and
com
mon
sense both provide,
and
at
once a secret and unsus

"
pected harmony comes to
light.
In the mouth of two

;
In or three witnesses every word shall be established. weighty questions of fact the concurrence of two witnesses
is
almost essential, that of three
is
desirable, to
be the
ground of a reasonable faith. A fourth is a kind of Hence, if we have four successive luxury or superfluity. a of memoirs on subject high importance, which hold the character of human or Divine witnesses, when they are
The results naturally follow. for main and have its will with the first, second, compared almost sole object to confirm the earlier testimony. The third, compared with its two predecessors, will have the
taken in
order,
three
double
object,
in
facts already given,
and
almost equal measure, to confirm to supplement them with fresh

fourth,
information.
fluous for the
The
again,
being nearly super
end of confirmation, may be expected to be almost entirely a supplement and completion to the rest. Now this, on close observation, will be found to be the
exact relation between the four Gospels ; assuming, as we may reasonably do, that the traditional order in which
they now stand is also the true order of their first appear ance. St. Mark differs doubly from St. Matthew, by a
comparative absence of our Lord
discourses,
and by
56
The Variations of
the greater fulness with which the outward details of His But the inci miracles and journeyings are described.
The chief dents recorded are almost wholly the same. the presence of wild beasts exceptions are only these
in the
hour of temptation ; the healing of the deaf man in the coasts of Decapolis, and of the blind man at Bethsaida;
the reply to St. John as to the man who was casting out devils in the name of Jesus ; and the incident of the young
man, who
naked from the soldiers in the hour of temptation, treachery, and sorrow. St. Luke, again, as compared with St. Matthew, holds He agrees with him, and differs exactly a middle place.
fled
from
facts
St.
the birth,
Mark, in recording the miraculous conception, and the infancy of the Lord Jesus. But the
in detail are almost wholly Again, in the public ministry the facts recorded
connected with them
different.
are either the same, or closely similar, through six chap The accounts ters, or about one-fourth of the Gospel.
then mainly diverge, though

features, in
still
with
51 one-fourth of two others.

stantial,
Luke
ix.
xviii. 14,
or eight chapters
is
some common and

then sub
The agreement
though not complete and unbroken, through
seven remaining chapters to the close.
The
confirmatory
and supplemental characters thus

proportion.
coexist in nearly equal
In St. John the relation varies once more, but still conforms to the same secret law. Except the record of the miracle of the five thousand in the former half of
chapter all the
original,
vi.,
and
that of the eventful
incidents,
without
exception,
week of the Passion, are fresh and
and such as had not been given by the three
to the
Evidences and Truth of Christianity.
57
others.
facts or
Even in the record of the last week, the new new discourses greatly exceed those which are
resumed, and had been already given before. Yet still there are so many allusions to facts already recorded, as
familiar and notorious, that the Gospel takes its place as one harmonious and needful element in the structure of
the conjoint
and
fourfold narrative.
This special relation of the four Gospels, inwrought into their whole texture, by which they are essentially
diverse, with a distinct
plan and method in their diver*
the third sity, the second simply confirming the first, and the first and second, the confirming supplementing
fourth
and
last
restricted almost wholly to the office of
supplementing those which had been published before, is a powerful argument that their variations, far from dis
proving
their
Divine
effect
origin,
are
really
the
direct
consequence and
2.
of that Divine
wisdom which
presided at their birth.
The
historical unity
and adaptation of each Gospel
is
a second argument.
These four Gospels, however closely united and widely must have had, each of them, its own immediate and special object, depending either on
circulated in later times,
the date, or the special class of disciples or inquirers for whose use it was composed. The circle to which they
all
appealed was not homogeneous.
In
fact the history
of the early growth of Christianity reveals four successive

centres,
and
differing classes
for
whom
first
would naturally be made.
The
such provision centre was Jeru
salem, or perhaps rather Galilee, the home and centre of the first disciples who were gained to the faith, and whose
58
first
The Variations of the Gospels in
their Relation
thought would be the conversion of their Jewish
brethren.
first
The second
in.
centre was Csesarea, where the
Gentile convert, Cornelius, the
Roman
centurion,
civilians
was gathered
to
The Roman
soldiers
and
resident in Palestine were the
first class,
whom
the Gospel was accessible,
beyond the Jews, and Csesarea, the
scene of that conversion, was like the Syrian outpost of
The third centre was Antioch, where Imperial Rome. the name Christian had its birth, and where extensive
preaching to the Greeks
last centre
first
began.
The
fourth
and
was Ephesus, where St. Paul resided two years, and St. John still later took up his residence, with the other Asian churches, which form the subject of address in
the opening of that prophecy, which carries on the sacred history, and completes the record of the New Testa
ment.
The
four Gospels have features of
marked correspon
dence with these four successive centres of the early church history. They seem adapted, in the first place,
for
military converts, for the
Jewish or Galilean inquirers and disciples, for Roman Greeks of Antioch and Syria,
for believers established in the faith, like the churches
and
St.
of Asia, over which
St. John presided in his latest years. Matthew begins with the promises to the Jews in Abraham and David, and a genealogy wich connects our
Lord with the line of the kings of Judah. He introduces him at once under this special title, the King of the Jews.
He
presents
Him
to us as the Lawgiver, greater than
Moses, and appeals throughout to the Jewish prophecies which He fulfilled. St. Mark, again, whose name is a Roman name, records chiefly the actions of Christ, and
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity*
^g
omits His discourses, in harmony with the practical and outward character of the Roman mind. He uses the
Latin, not the
Greek name,
for the
Roman
centurion
and the executioner.
He
writing directly for readers
expounds Jewish usages, as if who were outside the Jewish
But he nowhere expounds or explains Jewish which implies that he addressed readers familiar with the country, and the sites and towns of Palestine. St.
synagogue.
localities,
Luke, by early tradition, was a native and resident ot

Antioch.
His Gospel, and still more the Book of Acts, have the features of classic Greek histories. He professes
have inquired closely into the facts by a comparison of authorities, and to observe the order of time. He
to
introduces features especially Syrian, the government of Cyrenius, the years of Tiberius, the four tetrarchies and
their occupants, the rivalry of
name
"
of
Herod s
steward,
as
if
Herod and Pilate, and the and speaks of Arimathea,

were not familiar
a city of the
Jews,"
his readers
with Jewish localities. St. John, again, writes as for those who were established in the faith, and fa
miliar with the
names and character of the

mentions
the
in
apostles,
and
he
continually Jews way which that the of the from the Jewish Church implies separation and was then This people, unity, synagogue complete.
four quickly successive stages of the
and tone of each Gospel, corresponding with Church s develop ment, and of which the types may be seen in Jerusalem and the five hundred Galilean disciples; in Csesarea, Cor nelius, and the first Roman converts in Antioch and the Hellenists who first received the title of Christians; and in Ephesus and the Asian churches, when Jerusalem had
in character
;
60
The Variations of
and the Church had received its full development, one out of many proofs that the diversity of the Gos pels far from being the result of chance, and involving imperfection and contradiction, arises from the reality of
fallen,
is
their adaptation to special classes of readers in the early
times.
3.
The moral and

argument
spiritual unity of
is
each Gospel
is
third
that their diversity
no
result of igno
rance and imperfection, but fulfils a secret and important design of their Divine Revealer.
The Gospel
is
a message at once intensely real and
In this it corresponds to the great sublimely ideal. Each of doctrine on which it is based, the Incarnation.
the four has
its
distinctive
unity on
the real side, as

it
adapted to a special
written.
St.
class, for
whose use
was
first
Matthew corresponds with the wants of the first Jewish inquirers, and St. John with those of the fullgrown believers of the Asian churches. But there is a like distinction and contrast no less observable on the This has led to their asso doctrinal and spiritual side.
ciation,
cherubim.
from early times, with the sacred symbols of the Space will not allow me to amplify and con
Stated briefly,
it
firm this contrast.
may be
thus ex
pressed.
life
The
first
Gospel looks backward, and links the

the earlier messages of the
of Christ with
all
Old Tes
tament, and exhibits His claims as a Lawgiver and King. The second looks outward, and exhibits Him as the
Great Husbandman, unwearied in patient labour. It omits His longer discourses, but gives the outward and
visible
details
of His
it
work
far
more
largely than
St.
last,
Matthew; and
retains this
outward character to the
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
61
in the
to every creature.
form of that parting charge, to preach the Gospel St. Luke deals with the human and
priestly or sacred
work.
elements of our Lord s person and His Gospel looks forward to the later triumphs of the faith, and the spread of the Church, and hence it finds
its
continuation in a later work of the

St.
s
same
writer, the
Acts of the Apostles.

It
is
John Gospel looks upward. a distinct revelation of the truth that Jesus with begins the Word of God, become incarnate for man s salvation.
it
And
to
closes, not with
a message concerning the earthly

saith
diffusion of the Gospel, but like the others, with a call
heavenward aspiration:
"Jesus
unto
him,
Follow
Me
"
This double unity, which close observation reveals in
each of the four Gospels, both on the historical and the deal side, removes their diversity from the region of chance
and mperfection into that of profound adaptation and Divine wisdom. As the slight diversities in the two
pictures of a stereoscope are not accidental and trivial errors, but the very elements on which our full conception
life
of solidity depends, so this fourfold presentation of the of our Lord combines special adaptation to the wants of the Church in its first origin and growth, with
an harmonious fourfold exhibition of His perfection, who

is
the King, the Shepherd,
Priest,
and more than
all,
the
and the Sympathising High Second Adam, the Lord
from Heaven.
Let us now examine rapidly a few of the main discre
we shall see that they yield, when only deep and latent signs and proofs of unity and Divine wisdom.
pancies in detail, and
sifted,
fa
The Variations of
ihc Gospels in their Relation
4. The Genealogies. The contrast of the two
genealogies in
St.
Matthew
and
St.
Luke meets us
at the
opening of the Gospels.
It has given rise to a great variety of Christian comments and explanations and to objections, often repeated and The ques raised, on the part of opposers of the faith. their is this. Does contrast answered to be tion prove ignorance and error, or is it a reconcilable diversity,
;
which gives the strongest evidence of special design, guiding and overruling this double record ?
The
and
true explanation, in spite of all sceptical cavils, the frequent mistakes even of Christian commentators,
seems to me clear, simple, and decisive, and amounts St. Matthew and St. Luke to a moral demonstration.
both agree to affirm our Lord
s
miraculous
conception."
was, in popular estimation and in right of legal inherit ance alone, the Son of Joseph. But He was really and
He
Son of Mary, and had no earthly father. In common cases a man may have three genealogies. The first in precedence and dignity is the paternal, the
substantially the
line of his father.
The second, which comes next, The third, in maternal, the line of his mother.
cases only,
is
is
the
some
adopted
ties
father.
may
the adoptive or purely legal, the line of an By the first and second, natural quali be transmitted. The child inherits the likeness
only of real parents ; the third does not convey natural The case of our Lord characters, but legal rights alone.
was peculiar and unique.

real
He
had a
real mother,
but no
human
father.
were one and

real line.
paternal and the adoptive line the same, and the maternal alone was the
The
One was
the popular genealogy, and decided
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
63
;
His
legal right
of inheritance in the public
eye
but
the other alone was a true descent,
and decided the
form and true character of the great mystery of the Thus the genealogy, which usually has incarnation.
the
first
place in
dignity
and importance, here be
comes the second, and the second becomes the first. That Joseph should be of the seed of David was es was to seem even to outward if our Lord sential, observers, ignorant of the mystery of His birth, to be the
heir of the promises.
That Mary should be of the seed

really fulfilled,
of David was essential, that the promise of a Messiah of the seed of
David might be
and not
in
The paternal genealogy deceptive appearance alone. would still be of high importance. It would serve to
establish the claims of Jesus of
Nazareth in the outward
and opinion, where the mystery of His birth was unknown. The other genealogy would be more important still, since on this would rest the fulfil ment of many prophecies, and the real truth of His title as the Son of David.
court of Jewish law
This contrast, plain to a reflecting mind, explains the two sacred genealogies. Both in form belong to Joseph, but he could not have two fathers, two strictly paternal
genealogies.
that
is
If one is proper, one must be improper, The proper line maternal, conjugal, or adoptive.
Joseph could only give an improper, legal, and A maternal or other adoptive line of the Son of Mary. adoptive line of Joseph would be neither a proper nor an
of
improper line of Jesus.

as the son-in-law of
line of our
But the conjugal line of Joseph, Mary s father, would be the true
St.
Lord
actual descent.
Matthew, coming
64
The Variations of the Gospels

gives the descent
in their Relation
first,
usually recognised
by which our Lord would be by the Jews as the Son of Joseph. For he wrote for Jews, and his genealogy precedes his narrative of the incarnation. The term used is one which requires strict and real descent, and is never used of a
father-in-law or a merely adoptive parent.
In the
last
step, then, the imperfection of this genealogy comes to And Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, light.
"
of which
In
St.
Mary was born Jesus, who is called the Christ." Luke the genealogy comes later, at the time of the
fully unfolded.
baptism, after the mystery of the miraculous birth has been The descent of Mary and Joseph alike is
referred to the Davidic family.
The name
of her unborn
Son, as the Son of David, is given Him in the same message which excludes an earthly father. And the
connective term throughout the whole list would apply equally to a son, a son by adoption, or a son-in-law. In the
Talmudical writings,
Ileli.
also,
Mary
is
called the daughter of
The
later
Gospel,
then,
designed for Gentile
converts, and tracing the line up to Adam, not down from Abraham, replaces the legal genealogy of our Lord s putative father by one still more important, that of His real mother, on which alone His Davidic descent and
the mystery of His incarnation in
human
flesh really
depend. But long.

their
5.
The minor
I
diversities
would detain
me
too
believe that they admit equally of a solution which shows the Divine harmony of the narratives and
common truth. The accounts
of our Lord
Gospels have been further
infancy in the two charged by Strauss and

s
"
others with direct contradiction.
"
It is impossible,
he
to the
Evidences
"
and Truth of
both can be
St.
Christianity.
65
true, and one must Luke makes Nazareth the But Matthew ij. ??.. it is said, ren original residence. ders certain that Matthew did not suppose Nazareth, but
states
boldly,
that
necessarily be
false."
"
When
Bethlehem, to have been the original dwelling-place." he represents Joseph on his return as prevented
from going to Judea solely by his fear of Archelaus, he ascribes to him an inclination to proceed to that pro
vince, unaccountable if the affair of the
had taken him
Census alone and which is only to be explained by the supposition he had formerly dwelt there.
to Bethlehem,
will
This objection, made with a confidence truly amazing, be found on examination, as is often the case, to
for the truth
It is
change sides and become a strong evidence

of the sacred history.
here assumed that the good will of a Jewish carpenter s business in a Galilean village, away from the traditional home of his family,
would be an attraction of such extreme force, that no providential changes, however surprising, no angelic
visions
for the
and messages, no hopes of honour and royalty new-born son, whose birth itself was a miracle
unique and unexampled, could possibly break the spell, or ever induce Joseph to prefer the birthplace ofJewish royalty
But what to the despised and ill-famed Galilean village. notion could be more unreasonable and preposterous ? Are working carpenters so immovable from place to
place in our own days ? Once of the main facts recorded, and
assume the
their
effect
reality
on the
certainty,
minds of Joseph and Mary might be foreseen with had the Gospel been silent, and the least
Joiowledge of
human
nature might have
made
it
plain,
66
The Variations of
the Gospels in thnr Relation
recluse.
even to the dull eyes of a dreaming speculator and They had been brought to Bethlehem unex
when the promised child was bom. An angel had announced His royal honours. Wise men from the east had laid royal gifts at His feet. Jerusa lem had been stirred by the tidings, and Herod s fears awakened by the tidings of a rival who was destined The words in the to succeed to David s throne.
pectedly, at the very time
message
to
the
Virgin
had
received
repeated
What place could pledges and signs of their truth. be so fit and natural as David s home for the training and dwelling place of his heir and successor, till the way should be open for His assuming His rightful honours? All the indications of the present, the memories of the past, and the hopes of a near future would conspire
to impress the parents with the thought that here surely, in the city of David, to which the Roman decree had
brought them, where eastern sages had been guided to come and worship, and where a prophecy, newly repeated
to
Herod, had fixed Messiah
origin,
was the
right
and
the great work of educating for His promised dignity the Son who had just been born. The idea that Joseph would of course, on his return
fitting place for
from
his
tools,
Egypt, have gone back to Nazareth to recover or, to revive his suspended business as a
carpenter,
and
forsake
his
ancestral
seat,
the
seat
and the birthplace King, is worthy of a dreamy pedant, and self-conceit, but spirit of doubting What is said to be a man. reasonable
of royal ancestors,
of falsehood
is
of the coming steeped in the
unworthy of a
The
necessary proof a clear sign of consistency and truth. Evangelist does not pause to explain what explains
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
67
Itself,
when
all
the facts are thoroughly considered.
The
seeming contrast of the two Gospels, when the transition in the minds of Joseph and Mary would follow so
naturally
the hopes
and inevitably from the wonders recorded, and to which they must have led, is really a
The powerful indirect evidence of their common truth. writers, it has been well said, "were too well aware of
their
agreement and consistency to be afraid of the
effect of
it
apparent collision. They neither apprehended themselves, nor feared that it would be objected to
others."
them by
6.
scene and locality of our Lord s public the next principal subject, on which seeming ministry contrast and disagreement turns, on further search, into
is
The main
a remarkable harmony of statement. The three first Gospels agree to place our Lord s ministry in Galilee.
They begin,
after
His baptism, by speaking of His removal
from Nazareth to Capernaum.

local allusions are Galilean,
And
after this
all
the
down
to the last week,
when
in
die passage through
Judea and the entry into Jerusalem,
were followed by the crucifixion.

St.
The
places
named
Matthew
are successively,
Capernaum, Galilee and
Decapolis, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, the Gergesenes, Chorazin and Bethsaida, the sea side, Nazareth, a desert
place near the sea, Gennesaret, the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, the sea of Galilee again, the coasts of Magdala, Csesarea Philippi, Galilee once more, and the coasts of
Judea beyond Jordan. In St. Mark nearly the same, with one added miracle in Decapolis, and one at Bethsaida,
In
St.
wilderness,
Luke, we have Nazareth, Capernaum, Gennesaret, the Capernaum, Nain, the land of the Gadarenes,
68
The Variations of
Bethsaida, Chorazin, the midst of Samaria and Galilee, and

Jericho.
dialect.-
The
disciples are
in the
identified
by
their Galilean
is
And
Book of Acts
the same feature
conspicuous on the question at the day of Pentecost, "Are not all these which speak Galileans." But here an objection will arise. For our Lord is
described as saying before His death
"
Jerusalem,
Jerusalem
dren,
and
often would I have gathered thy chil The complaint is given, at ye would not
"
how
different times,
both by
all
St.
Matthew and
first
St.
Luke.
Yet
strange to say, in
the three
Gospels we have no
single line to show that this complaint was true, or that such attempts had ever been made. When we turn to St. John, in its almost entire diversity
of materials, its wholly supplemental character, we have a key by which the perplexity is entirely removed. This
Gospel speaks scarcely at all of the Galilean ministry. Its Contents belong, with one exception, to the successive visits
our Lord paid to Jerusalem.
in ch.
ii.
The
first
of these
is
recorded
at the first Passover,
and was followed by a stay

opening of the
the visit
of
some weeks
in
Judea,
before the
Galilean ministry.
The second was
when the
healed, at a feast of the Jews, which was probably the second Passover. At the third Pass over, from the malice of the Jews, which then en
impotent
man was
dangered our Saviour s life, no visit was paid to the metropolis, because the time of His sacrifice was Here only one main event in Galilee is too remote.
recorded,
shortly
before
the
Passover,
and then we
are told that
He
went on walking
in Galilee,
of that murderous malice of the Jews.
because But then followed,
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity*
69
in the latter part of that year,

at the Feast of Tabernacles,
two successive visits, one and another at the Feast of
Dedication, And thus, by comparison, the enigma is solved, and the Divine complaint of the Saviour is verified. The But its course had been ministry was mainly Galilean.
by four visits to Jerusalem at the first and second Passovers, the third Feast of Tabernacles and of And it was during a fifth and final visit Dedication.
intersected
that those sacred
words were uttered, of complaint and

will fully
sorrow at their persevering unbelief.
Other main topics, to which the same truth
apply, that seeming divergence conceals below its surface deep evidence of real consistency and truth, are these :
the apparent dislocation of separate sayings or miracles, the real irregularity of one part of St. Matthew, the rela
tion of the
Sermon on the Mount

St.
to the
same or a
similar
discourse in
the four
fishes,
Luke, the visits to Nazareth, the call of the two miraculous draughts of apostles,
narratives of the Resurrection.
the celebration of the Last Passover, and the But each of these would
almost require a separate lecture, and my time is nearly I would close with a few remarks upon the exhausted.
first
alone.
is made an objection to the accuracy of the Evangelists that the same, or nearly the same, parable or saying or miracle is found in very different parts of the
Whenever it
narrative,
one plain
fact
least the weight is not given to
seems to be forgotten, or at it which its importance
deserves.
four
All the sayings of our Lord, recorded in the Gospels, including every repetition of those
doubly or trebly recorded, might be spoken deliberately
The Variations of
without undue haste, in much less than the working But our Lord s public ministry hours of a single day. lasted three full years, or more than a thousand of these were spent in dull inaction or Each of them was filled with its own total silence.
days.
None
works and words of
love.
And
thus the whole of His
sacred words, if all alike had been given in their own time and place, must have formed a volume nearly a
four Gospels.
thousand fold larger than the collective amount of the But His life was one of ceaseless journey
The ing from town to town, and from village to village. same discourse in substance, even when of considerable
may probably have been delivered to some thronging audience ten or twenty times, but varied by new insertions and additions, and the omission of some
length,
parts
which were spoken before.

brief parables or
is
In the case of shorter
sayings,
there
maxims of Divine wisdom, of them may not have been reason several no why
even hundreds of times.
are
really uttered, in different places,
There
is
no presumption,
then,
when such passages
found differently placed in different Gospels, for supposing that one or the other has erred wholly in their arrange ment. On the contrary, there may often be traced a
and beauty in some change, under fresh circum Thus we read in stances, of a saying already uttered. Are not two St. Matthew at the Mission of the Twelve, sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not But the very fall on the ground without your Father.
remarkable suitableness
which occurs in the
later repetition,
"
hairs of your
head are
all
numbered."
apparently
much
later, after the
In St. Luke, Mission of the Seventy
to the
Evidences
and Truth of
Christianity.
71
and
their return,
"Are
farthings ?
and not one of them
not five sparrows sold for two is forgotten before God.
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." How strangely dpes the general truth, the care of Divine Providence even over events the most minute
and seemingly insignificant, receive a fresh illustration, when our Lord can notice even so slight a change in the usual price, at one time or another, at one place or
another, of the sparrows themselves I feel how impossible it is, within
!
the limits of a
lecture, to
do
justice to a subject so
wide as the one on

I
which
have
offered
these
to
remarks.
would hope
the
outline,
on
some
other
occasion
complete
and to throw some new light, which I believe to be possible, on the topics I have named, but am compelled
for the present to pass by.
I
press
my own
deep conviction, not
can only, in closing, ex lightly formed, but
the
result of careful examination, that the objections brought against the consistency and truth of the Gospel, even those which have sometimes been hastily accepted
as real
superficial study,
alone,
by Christians themselves, are due to imperfect, or hasty and groundless inference and that in the great majority of cases they serve
only to disclose a secret harmony, too deep and full to For if hundreds of years are eyes. too short a time to trace out all the wonders of God in
be seen by careless
His works, arid to discover and unfold those laws which order the course of the planets, and govern the currents
and
tides
culties
of the ocean, how can we wonder that diffi should meet us at first sight, and only yield
slowly to patient thought, prayerful inquiry,
and
intelli-
7*
gent
The Variations of
the Gospels,
<&t.
Word
even
comparison of Scripture with Scripture, in that of God which is more excellent in His sight than
the works of Nature,
"Thou
all
and of which we read that

hast magnified
stately description,
Thy Word
above
all
Thy
Name."
THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.

BY
B.
HARRIS COWPER.
(iosptls.
worthy of notice that some writers who seek to four Canonical Gospels ingeniously endeavour to exalt the so-called Gospels which are
is
IT disparage the
To raise these spurious and third rate Apocryphal. productions to the level of the genuine Gospels is not all that is meant ; if it were, the question would soon be
decided.
to pull
There
is
a sinister purpose behind, and that
the true Gospels by means of the false. is, Now we believe the former are of inestimable value, while of the latter we say with Dr. Ellicott, the present
down
Bishop of Gloucester
"
Their real demerits, their

their narratives,
It
men
dacities, their coarseness, the barbarities of their style,
and the inconsequence of been excused or condoned.
have never would be hard to find any competent writer in any age of the Church, who has been * beguiled into saying anything civil or commendatory. Every word of this will be endorsed by the most accom
1
plished of even sceptical critics, who will admit with Nicolas, who is not in the ranks of orthodoxy, that
reality, they are
all,
M.
"
in
without exception, infinitely beneath

for 1856, p. 153.
Cambridge Essays
76
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
the Canonical Gospels in all respects."* books we have to deal with now.
Such are the
The
the true Gospels
course pursued by the more skilful opposers of is, to confess the want of authenticity,
to turn
"
and merit of the Apocryphal Gospels, round upon us and say, Your Gospels labour under similar defects, and yet the others are as ancient, and have been received with similar reverence
authority, veracity,
and then
by the Churches
rity
"
We, on
the contrary, maintain that
they are not as ancient,
and were never of equal autho
among orthodox Christians. We might demand of our adversaries the proof of what they say, but without
The two waiting for that, we are ready to disprove it. classes of books have been carefully investigated, and the
result is that only folly or fraud
can place them on the
same
a
view.
level.
This
is true,
critical,
an
historical,
whether we regard them from a moral, or a religious point of

I
Some
of these matters
;
hope
to
make
to say
clear
before I conclude
but I must proceed
now
what
the Apocryphal Gospels are. In the introduction to my translation of those which

exist I
have written as follows
"
Several of these books
are
still
larger
titles.
extant in one language or another, but of the part we only possess fragments, or the mere
would thus describe

:
in a few
words the character

;
of the books in question

all
They
are all spurious
they
relate
to Christ in
with
Him
and to those who were associated His earthly career, or to the Apostles and
;
their associates
they
all
seek to supplement or develop
* Eludes sur
les Evangiles
Apocryphes,
Pref. p. xxiii.
TJie
Apocryphal Gospels.
77
the writings of the New Testament ; and all that we have are of more recent date than any of the Canonical books.
The
series
commenced
for
in the
second century at
latest,
and continued
many
centuries.
The
materials are
drawn, partly from the New Testament, partly from tra ditions, and partly from the imagination of their authors.
They
never
are of
no
historical or doctrinal authority,
officially recognised in
all
the
Church."
and were These re
marks apply to
concern
us.
the
New
Testament Apocrypha, and
therefore to the false
Gospels, which alone at present
I will trouble
in
which
"
I give
you with another extract from my book, an explanation of the origin and intention
of the Apocryphal Gospels,

I.
and
similar
books
Evangelical narratives were simple and meagre in their mode of describing what (i) preceded, (2) attended, and (3) followed, the facts with which they
are mainly concerned.
"
The
This applies to
Christ
;
(2), His Infancy ; (3), His Trial and His Crucifixion ; (5), His Inauguration ; (4), visit to the Underworld ; (6), His Resurrection and His Mother Ascension and the (7), Apostles after
(i),
The Family of
wards.
"
II.
The
Evangelical narratives were almost or wholly

points,
e.g.
silent
on various
"(i),
tion
Doctrines to be believed, but requiring explana (2), Certain matters connected with the unseen and
spiritual
world
and
(3),
The
organisation
and
discipline
of the Church.
Sundry sects, heresies, and parties wanted sup from Apostolical and Divine authorities. port
"
III.
78
"
The Apocryphal
IV.
Gospels.
Men took
pleasure in producing religious novels,
fictions,
Hagadoth (a Jewish form of religious fiction), or whatever we call them ; and they knew such things were
popular."
Let
me
repeat that
"
the materials are drawn, partly
Testament, partly from traditions, and from the imagination of their authors." This being partly the case, while we admit that they contain elements
from the
New
which are
fictions.
all
true, we are required to speak of them as They are not all wholly false, and they were not
meant
to
be taken as
to
literal history.
similar
prin
It
ciple holds
is
"
good with other books and works of

the
"
art.
applicable
"Paradise
Lost"
of Milton, the
"
s Progress of Bunyan, and the Robinson Crusoe of Defoe, to the historical plays of Shakespeare, the historical novels of Scott, to Franklin s Parable of
Pilgrim
"
"
It Abraham," "Ammergau Passion Play." to in also s Kneller Hampton Godfrey picture applies William III. Landing at Torbay," to Court Palace of
"
and to the
David s painting in the Louvre of Napoleon crossing the Alps," and to the Shadow of Death by Holman Hunt. These all rest upon a basis of truth, but not one of them represent events as they happened. As their
"
"
"
merits are independent of historical accuracy, so are the merits or demerits of the Apocryphal Gospels.
In some respects certain of the false Gospels cannot be compared with the works I have enumerated ; I mean
those which were written in the interests of heresy or of That some were so written is matter of superstition.
history,
and
that
it is
true even of a part of those which

less
we have
in a
more or
complete state
is
apparent to
every careful student,
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
79
spired,
Very few of the Apocryphal Gospels profess to be in and none have been viewed as such by the Church
Occasionally they refer to our Gospels as of a rank,, which is an acknowledgment of their
of Christ.
more elevated
But when we come to look into inferior pretensions. them and subject them to criticism, we soon begin to see how far they are from any just claim to equality with our Gospels. Among the phenomena which present
own
themselves to our notice are these
i.
often ascribed to different authors.
2.
The same book is The same book

dif
appears with different with the same title. 4.

ferent forms,
titles.
3.
Different books occur
The same book may have
one much longer than the others. 5. Two or three books are sometimes amalgamated into one. 6.
The
ous,
immensely
various readings are as divergent as they are numer in excess of those which belong to the
four Gospels, although the latter have
been copied a
hundred times more often to say the least. The negli gence in copying, and the liberties taken in altering in
every way, prove that these books were not looked upon with any veneration as sacred and Divine.
none of these things are true of the genuine Gospels, and therefore we may affirm that the eighteen centuries which have revered and testified to them have trifled with and borne witness against the others. I say
that eighteen centuries have trifled with the
Now
Apocryphal
Gospels, but I do not mean that we have any so ancient. I believe we have not, although I find things in some of
them which Irenaeus speaks of as
in those of his day,
seventeen centuries ago. You will, however, carefully observe that as these writers copied much from one
80
Tlie
Apocryphal Gospels,
another, similar statements occur in books written at most distant intervals. cannot, therefore, decide the age
We
of any one of these Apocrypha by a reference to Irenaeus With the genuine Gospels the case is widely dif alone. ferent, and no one who reads them carefully can doubt
whether they are the same as Irenseus mentions and uses The one truth which we gather from Hipposo much.
lytus,
Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Irenseus, is, that the series of spurious Gospels must have begun in the second century. Later authors, and the
very books in our hands, make it plain that the series continued during several hundred years ; perhaps it would not be too much to say they range over a thousand
If I included the visions and revelations years or more. of monks and nuns and devout hypochondriacs, I should
have to say that the long array of falsehoods extends from As we must draw the second century to the nineteenth. to consider only I have now decided line the somewhere,
anonymous Apocrypha of a few centuries. I be asked why I call books anonymous which bear such well known names as Matthew, Peter, Thomas, James, and Nicodemus, I would answer, Because no one
the
Should
believes those writers were the authors, and, so far as
we
can
tell,
no one ever did believe
it,
unless incompetent.
!
How
different with our foiuv.
Gospels
Every man who

to
has recorded the writers
names has ascribed them

!
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
With respect
before
St.
to the question of their
first
origin, I
may
be told that the Apocryphal Gospels
must have begun Luke wrote, because he says, Many have

"
taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those
The Apocryphal
Gospc-s.
gi
one word of the fabulous character of the books he refers to ; and from this I infer that they were honest, but unsatis Whatever factory attempts to write the Gospel history. we have at and were once into oblivion, they passed they I am sure no not a trace of a record of them afterwards.
one
will believe in the ludicrous list
things which are most surely believed among us-" answer to this is that the Evangelist does not say
The
of twenty-six Gospels
referred to in the
New Testament, as drawn up by Robert

"Syntagma."
Taylor and printed at

iftter
p. 75 of his untrustworthiness of this writer is
The
now
so well-known
and admitted
that
places any reliance
no intelligent and candid unbeliever upon him. Him, therefore, I dismiss
without apology.
I may perhaps be reminded that some Christian writers have understood St. Luke as alluding to Apocryphal
I am quite aware of the Gospels. reason for a different opinion. my
It
fact,
but have given
may be
said that several of the earliest Christian
Fathers mention incidents and sayings not to be found in the four Gospels, but once existing in the Apocryphal.
The inference is that in these cases Apocryphal Gospels were quoted. I am again of a different opinion, and after minute examination conclude that such incidents and
sayings in
all
human probability belong to tradition.
The
compilers of false Gospels naturally embodied such facts and words in their books.
If
it
is
alleged that several of the fathers, such as
Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Tertullian, avowedly quote from false Gospels, it need not be denied ; but it must be observed that they do not appeal to them with6
(j
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
out reservation and explanation.
These very quotations
therefore supply historical proof that such Gospels were
not accounted Canonical and genuine. Leaving the questipn of antiquity for the present, let us This is partly answered by a look at that of authority.
remark already made, on the way in which the early But it may be Fathers quote the Apocryphal Gospels.
urged that at least one church, that of Rhossus in Cilicia, adopted a false Gospel, and that other examples might
It possibly be traced. which the rule, proves
may be
is all
so,
but the exception

establish.
have need to
at
Even
tuted,
in the case of
Rhossus an enquiry was
one
insti
and the made known.
true character of the spurious Gospel
was
The
fact that the
Apocryphal Gospels were drawn upon

their legends foisted into so-called
in after times,
histories
and
is no argument against the which were borrowed books because my position, from had already been declared Apocryphal by name in
and
into liturgical works
the decrees of councils or of Popes.
having been condemned, it plundered them to justify their thefts ;

selves
is
The books them for those who

do not undertake
to
do
so.
If there are saints in the calendar
and
stories
in the Breviary
it is
which come from the Apocryphal Gospels, a discredit to those who have adopted them without
acknowledging, and even while condemning the parentage. One curious fact connected with some of the Apocry
Maurice, the phal Gospels must not be overlooked. author of Indian Antiquities," wrote a book called The
"
"
Indian Sceptic Confuted, and Brahmin Frauds

*
Exposed,"*
London, 1812.
The Apocryphal
in
Gospels.
83
which he directs attention to the existence of certain
of these productions in India, among the ancient Chris tians established there. He undertakes to prove that
these false Gospels were used by the Brahmins, who compiled the famous legends of Krishna. His arguments
were highly
commended by such men

Clarke,
as
Dean Vincent
and they are certainly every way of attention. At an earlier date Sir William worthy Gods of Greece, Jones, in his well known essay on the He says, Italy and India/ expressed a similar opinion. when speaking of the Krishna fables, This motley story must induce an opinion that the spurious Gospels, which abounded in the first age of Christianity, had been brought to India, and the wildest parts of them repeated to the Hindus, who ingrafted them on the old fable of
"
and
Adam
"
Cesava, the Apollo of

for Krishna,
Greece."
Cesava
is
another
name
and hence we may
Krishna story as we have it Gospels, but is indebted to those very Apocryphal Gospels which we have under our notice.
I
will
infer, not only that the is less ancient than our
now mention
course has been had
the amusing shifts to which re by some who have wished to make
the unlearned believe that the Apocryphal Gospels were used in common with our own. According to one story
the selection of Canonical books was
made by
is
the vote
of a council of bishops
while another
that the selection
was ascribed
exceedingly
"
to
some
sort of miracle.
The
latter is
an
silly
fable, yet
very often printed.
It
even
appears in the second of the tracts bearing the title, Christian Evidences Criticised being the National
:
Secular Society
Reply
to the Bishop of
London, and the
84
The Apocryphal
Committee."
Gospels.
Christian Evidence
hold of the idea that the
The writer lias gdt Canon of the New Testament

"
was formed by the process of

"selection"
selection,"
and
after
speak
ing of the uncertainty of the time
when
this
:
supposed
uncertain
writers
is
history as to the
was made, he proceeds to say "Equally mode of selection. Some
what
mention that when the bishops met to decide be the word of God, the books were to the vote of the meeting, and those Gospels and put the majority of votes, were regarded had which Epistles
should
as
Divine.
By
other writers
it is
stated that the bishops
put the whole of the books under the table, and besought those that were inspired to leap on the top, and it hap pened accordingly. To believe this, however, would re
What became of the we know not. The Apocryphal New Testament contains some of them, but there are many of which we have no trace." Here we have the two untrue accounts -first, that the was made by a vote of bishops at some selection which is not named and secondly, that the anony council, mous council obtained a decision by a miracle. We are told that some writers give one account, and other The some writers in the one case writers the other.
quire a leap of the imagination.
rejected books
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
other writers none of them named, and the are Let me supply the deficiency by equally nameless. observing that Thomas Paine tells the first story, and
are
"
"
that William
Hone, who recanted

"
his scepticism, tells the

"
second, as you will find by referring to

Reason,"
and
The Age of The Apocryphal New Testament." Such

and what are the
facts ?
are the allegations,
The.
Apocryphal Gospels,
g-
1.
That there
is
absolutely
no genuine record or docu
ment, and no modern writer of note, to show that eithei the Council of Nice in 325 A.D., or that of Laodicea a
few years later, and one of the Canonical books of the

of
votes
them must be meant,
selected
New Testament by
ancient
list
against the Apocryphal ones. of New Testament books which
a majority There is an
said
it is
was
drawn up
at Laodicea, but nothing
about the
false
and
Besides, we have plenty of evidence spurious books. that the New Testament in a collected form existed ages
before
this,
and"
that
it
did not contain any Apocryphal
Gospels.
2.
The
from
tale
about the miraculous selection of the books

for at
which we receive seems to have been unknown

least
five to
hundred years after its supposed I am ashamed to feel called upon to give occurrence. its history, but the obstinacy with which sceptics of a cer
six
tain class
continue to publish
"
it
on the platform and
through the press renders it a duty. The pretended fact is taken from a book called Libellus Synodicus," which
named Pap Greek and Latin. It is said by the Abbe Bergier to have been written at the earliest in the ninth century, "by an unknown and visionary
was
first
published by a Strasburg professor
pus in the year 1601,
and
in
M. Bergier mentions by some sceptical writers of his time the fable by the unknown Greek had been produced with variations. The
it."*
It he adds, work isms and fables, and despised by whom has ever made use of
"
author."
is,"
"a
full
all
of errors, anachron critics, not one of
that
* Traite de la Vraie Religion, Vol. VIII., p. 127.
Paris, 1785.
86
author of the
I
"
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
Critical History of Jesus Christ," of which have a copy in French without date, or name of place of publication,* says the inspired books got upon the
altar.
Another version
altar
upon the
is that the books were all placed and that the Apocrypha fell off, while the
third account is that the inspired books remained. altar was artificially contrived to bring about the desired
result.
the history of the matter. Until the time of was even the not published, and it was not story Pappus French infidels until the got hold of it a century repeated did not believe it and no little more. or They very ago,
is
This
body
so
else believed
it.
much
of
it,
as
if it
ancient history ? Is it who will not or cannot investigate the truth of what they
opponents make was any part of true and really because they are prejudiced men,
Why then do our
say?
I will ask
you
diligently to note
what
am
about to
say further in reference to the fable published by Pappus. The men who so often mention it without accepting its
truth practically accept
it
as supplying a date
when Apo
claim to
cryphal Gospels were
finally
excluded from
all
authority by the adoption of our four. From this it follows, first, that the Canonical Gospels have held their place
and stood supreme
follows, secondly, that
for fifteen centuries and a half. It no Apocryphal Gospel written since the Nicene or Laodicean Councils can have had any claim to a place in the Canon. Therefore all Apocryphal Gos pels which have appeared since the Councils mentioned
It
appeared in French about 1770.
The Apocryphal
are confessedly excluded from
believing writers
earlier date.
Gospels.
87
all the honours which un have claimed for those written at an

is
This
reasonable
man can object and
a logical conclusion to which no it suggests that we should
find out the dates at which the Apocryphal Gospels first appear or were written. Every false Gospel which cannot be traced to an earlier date than the Nicene Council is
rejected
by the arguments of the Infidels themselves. Another most important consequence follows, and
if
it is
that
at
any
earlier date
than A.D. 325 we find our four
Gospels only accepted as Canonical, all Apocryphal Gos pels not older than that earlier date must be rejected.
Whenever, no matter when, our Gospels were regarded as alone Canonical all other Gospels must have been uncanonical. Hence all we have to do is to find out who
first
to discover
mentions four Gospels as alone received, and then what other so-called Gospels existed at an
because they only can have claimed to be To follow this course will very much simplify
its
earlier date
Canonical.
our enquiry, and
results will settle the question.
One hundred
years before the Council of Niceawefind

"
I Origen writing in his Commentaries on Matthew have learnt by tradition concerning the four Gospels which alone are uncontro verted in the Church of God
:
spread under heaven, that that according to Matthew,
who was once a publican but

Jesus Christ, was written
first
;
afterwards an Apostle of
...that
second
ing to
...that
last
according to Mark ...that accord according to Luke third

:
John
of
all.
* As quoted by Westcott on the Canon, Part

Ecclesiastical History, 6, 25.
II.,
from Eusebius,
88
Tertullian,
Tfie
Apocryphal Gospels.
who was bom about 130 years after the of death Christ, in his writing against Marcion* enumerates four Gospels only as genuine and ascribes them to
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Clement of Alexandria, who belongs to the same period, speaks of the four Gospels which have been delivered to
"
us."f
Irenaeus of Lyons, who wrote still earlier, reckons four Gospels as alone accepted by the universal Church of
God.t For the purposes of this lecture I need not go further We have the with the present branch of our enquiry. evidence of four of the most eminent Christian writers of
the second part of the second century, and of the first part of the third century, that only the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were then received by
These four men represent Europe, Asia, and and had what may be called an immense acquain tance with Christian literature and opinions, orthodox and
the Church.
Africa,
They all refer to Apocryphal Gospels, but it manifest that such books were excluded by them from the sacred Canon.
heretical.
is
There
is still earlier
their place in the
testimony for the four Gospels and Church, but I pass it by, as not belong
It is enough for me that men, ing to our actual business. some of whom could look back to within a hundred and
years of the birth of our Saviour, and had conversed with other men much older than themselves, knew nothing
fifty
* Book
4, ?.
t Stromata, Book
3,
t Heresies,
Bpok
3, ch,
11, sec. 8,
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
39
of more than four Gospels as received by the Church, although they knew of other so called Gospels in use by
certain heretical sects, as they carefully indicate.
Before proceeding to speak of the claims of the false Gospels now in existence to be older than the times of
and Irenaeus, and before saying any which were earlier, but are now so-called of Gospels thing known only by name, by fragments and in other forms,
Tertullian, Clement,
I
will
ask you to
compare
with
the
facts
already
established a few statements
made by
writers with
whom
you are, most of you, familiar. In his discussion with Mr. Woodman, Mr. Bradlaugh would ask him whether there are not says (p. 32) Greek Gospels, some more ancient the of others many
:
"I
friend says not, I will read over a
than these, which are abandoned and rejected ? If our list of fourteen or fifteen
Gospels, the names of which have been preserved, and some of which have been substantiated as being more
worthy of credence than some that have been adopted.
Hereupon I would say that we know of no Greek Gospels more ancient than those of the New Testament, and that no Apocryphal Gospel has been substantiated as more worthy of credence than some of the Canonical Gospels.
The same
writer at p. 25 of his tract,
"
When were
our
gives a list of what he describes as fabu Gospels lous histories written not long after Christ s resurrection.
written?"
Those
in the list
;
which are called Gospels
are,
"the
Gospel
;
of Peter
the Gospel of Andrew ; the Gospel of John the Gospel of James ; the Gospel of the Egyptians." Why the Gospel of John, which is one of our four, is put down,
I
know
not,
and some information should have been given
go
The Apocryphal
This
I
Gospels,
respecting the rest.

false
know, that not one of the
Gospels named by Mr. Bradlaugh is mentioned within a hundred and fifty years of the Ascension of
That of Peter first appears in notices of Serapion, of Antioch, whom Cave places at A.D. 190. That Bishop of Andrew first occurs in the decree of Gelasius, A.D. 492
Christ.
That of James seems to be mentioned as one with that of Peter by Origen, though as a fact the Gospel of James does not occur under that title in any of the ancient
Fathers.
is
The Gospel
of,
referred to
by Clement of Alexandria,
or according to, the Egyptians at the end of the
second century.
A sceptic
modern reader
of a very different class, Dr. Perfitt, says the hears of \hefact that about the close of
"
the second century various Gospels were known and highly esteemed, which are no longer accepted by the
Churches
in
he finds that these rejected works were quoted

with those received by the Fathers who are by Catholic and Protestant believers,"
common
This
is
still
praised alike
&c.
mischievous.
an exaggerated statement, and consequently We learn from Irenasus, that some of the
extreme heretics had

forged,
writers,
certain books which they had and we get similar evidence from some later but these books were not highly esteemed by the
Churches, neither were they quoted in common with ours by Fathers in high repute. How, and how far they are
quoted, will be duly stated as we proceed. I cannot allude without a feeling of shame to
"Our
p.
33 of
First
Scott.
Century,"
one of the
tracts
issued
by
Thomas
writer professes to gather together the principal incidents in the life of Jesus, according as
The
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
91
they are related in the various extant

writings.
New
Testament
he quotes most from no upright and act which an the Apocryphal Gospels, fail to condemn, because no explana man can intelligent tion whatever is offered. True, he elsewhere says, (p. 18),
Under
this designation
"
The
extant Apocryphal
New
Testament
literature is
almost universally admitted to be a production of the second century," but even this is grossly inaccurate.
I
must next mention Dr. Giles as one who has dealt

"
unfairly with this matter in his gives six instances in which
Christian
Records."
he says Justin Martyr quoted sayings of Christ or events of Christ s life which do not occur in our Gospels, but were found in other
"
He
uncanonical writings."
which are
trivial,
is,
he
offers
For his first and second examples no proof ; and all he can say
for his third
that
"Grotius
and others think
that
it is
taken from the Gospel according to the Egyptians." For his other three he does refer to Apocryphal books, but
most of them do not appear

Justin.
till
long after the time of
Among
met with
Nazareth
"
is
the boldest transgressors of accuracy I have Mr. E. P. Meredith, who in his Prophet of
"
says, at p.
306, that the Gospels which are
termed Apocryphal
"are supported by quite as strong evidence of their genuineness, as can be adduced for He says there is quite that of the Canonical Gospels."
"
as
much evidence of
Indeed,
the Infancy, as there
is
the genuineness of the Gospel of of that of either of the Canonical

that
it is
Gospels.
we have evidence
of higher
antiquity than either oi them for we have no proof that our present Gospels existed in the second century," Upon
92
Tfie
Apocryphal Gospels.
the respective items in this quotation, I simply say that, in the face of well known evidence, no more untrue
series of allegations
ever
one of the
tion.
details has the
came under my notice. Not shadow of fact as its founda
If space permitted
hasty utterances views of the most eminent
these too
would have set over against the calm and scholarlike
modern
the
critics^
who
almost
with one
Gospels were accepted as Canonical at a very early date, and do not regard the Apocryphal Gospels as having had any such
voice declare
that
four
position.
if
If a party in Egypt had a peculiar Gospel ; another party in Judea had a peculiar Gospel; if the disciples of Basilides and of Marcion had their peculiar
Gospels during the second century, the Church as a whole had the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and If we may judge by the specimens John, and no other.
of false Gospels which have come down to us, the Church could never have entertained them. The intellectual, the
moral, and the religious faculties of sober minded Chris tians would have revolted against them ; for as the
(July 1868) says: "What strikes every one, whatever be his opinion of the origin and merits of these writings, is their immeasurable inferiority to
"Edinburgh
Review
"
the
Canonical Gospels
An
impassable
line
sepa
rates the simple majesty, the lofty moral tone, the pro found wisdom and significance of the Canonical Gospels
from the
qualities
in the writings that claim to
which we forbear further to particularise be their complement."
The most important of the few earliest non-canonical Gospels of which we find any trace, were more or less
The Apocryphal
altered copies of those
Gospels.
93
according to the
which we have. Thus the Gospel Hebrews was a Hebrew or Aramaic
In like copy, answering generally to that by Matthew. manner the Gospel of Marcion was only an altered copy It is the opinion of Jeremiah Jones of that by Luke.
that six or seven of the early corrupted Gospels, styled
Apocryphal, were simply modifications of Matthew. Under this head he places the so-styled Gospels of the Hebrews,
of the Nazarenes, the Twelve Apostles, the Ebionites, and Others may those of Cerinthus and Bartholomew.
perhaps come under the same description.
We know
very well that one or two fabulous Gospels about the Infancy of Christ have been multiplied by ingenious
scribes into not less than half a dozen, but probably into
a larger number.
By doggedly
until
:
pursuing the motley
crowd of these Apocrypha,
we run them
^
to earth,
we secure two momentous results first that not a few of them are of far more modern date than has been asserted and secondly, that the remainder become for the most part mere aliases, leaving a very small number of originals.
;
Those which
are proved to be too modern, are disposed of by the argument of our opponents themselves ; such as are merely alterations of our Gospels have no logical
place in the discussion ; the Gospels of sects and parties have no right to compete with those of the Canon. If
there be any others I do not know where to lay my hand upon them, nor do I know any one who does.
What
Church
"
is
the
conclusion?
Why
evidently
that
four
original
Gospels and no more were received by the

in
its
and,
like
All others disappear, really early period. the baseless fabric of a vision, leave not a
wrack
behind."
94
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
Taking the
Gospel
is
sceptical ground, that the

first
first
to
name
the
witness for
its
existence, I turn to Jones
on the Canon, where the

1.
authorities are ranged chrono

:
logically, with the following results
is
Hegesippus (A.D. 173.) contemporary with Irenasus said to have used the Gospel according to the Hebrews.
authority for this
fifty
is
The
and
Eusebius,
who wrote a hundred
years later, and who does not say that Hegesippus gave the name of the Gospel in question. No matter whether he did or not, there is no doubt that the Gospel
according to the Hebrews agreed in the main with our
Matthew.
2.
Irenseus,
at
the
close of his
first
book
against
Heresies, says that the sect called the Cainites

fictitious history, Avhich
i.e.,
had a
;
they styled the Gospel of Judas
Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Christ. The same author mentions, The Gospel of Truth/ which the He also refers to false Gospels which Valentinians used.
"
he does not name.

3. Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, about the same time wrote against a book called The Gospel of Peter," a forgery which had been received by some members of
"
the Church of Rhosse, or Rhossus, in Cilicia. 4. Clement of Alexandria mentions the Gospel accord ing
to the
Hebrews, and the Gospel according to the
Egyptians.
5. TertulHan speaks of the Gospel of Valentinus, the Gospel of Marcion, and the Gospel of Peter.
6. Origen has references to the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel according to the Twelve Apostles,
the Gospel of Basilides, that of Thomas, that of Matthias, and that of Peter or the Book of James.
The Apocryphal
7.
Gospels.
95
Hippolytus,
who
in
lived at the
also refers to the Gospel of
gives
do not appear
same time with Origen, Thomas, but the extracts he the Gospel with that name which
has
come down
to our day.
8. Eusebius, a hundred years later, mentions several of the false Gospels above named, and adds the Gospel
of Tatian, but that was only a Harmony formed out of our four Gospels, because he expressly says so, and calls it by the name of Diatessaron, which a similar work bears
to this day. These are all the false, falsified, or modified Gospels of which the writers of the Church speak down to the time
of the Council of Nicea

crucifixion of Christ.
three hundred years after the

total is
:
The
thirteen,
from which
we must throw
out several
\
based on Matthew
;
the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Gospel of Marcion, based on
Luke the Gospel of Tatian, a collection from our four ; and the Book of James, which Origen speaks of as if the same with that of Peter. Of the nine which remain, the the Gospels of Judas and of Truth appear to have been mystical and not historical books, and that of Valentinus
seems to have been
accounted
for.
like
them.
Six only have to be

is
(i)
The Gospel of Peter, which
perhaps
the same as a
book
styled the Preaching of Peter, but
which we know to have been a forgery because Serapion declared it such in the time of Irenseus. (2) The Gospel
according to the Egyptians, of which Clement of Alex andria speaks, but which he does not accept, and which
fable
seems to have been a and part history.

that
it
good proof
Apocryphal Gospel, part has perished, which is very was never Canonical. It was used
really
It
96
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
(3) The Gospel according to the Twelve Apostles, which Origen mentions as used by the heretics, and Jerome thinks was another form of our Matthew. There is little doubt that it corresponded
only by some heretics.
with the Gospel according to the Hebrews. (4) The Gospel of Basilides, was written by an ancient heretic
of that name, and as such, whatever
its
forms,
it
did not
Church at large. (5) The Gospel of Thomas, is mentioned by Origen as received by heretics, and is declared by Cyril to have been written by a Manichean of the name of Thomas. If Cyril is right it could
appeal to the
not have been so ancient as the
Apostolic age.
There
may, however, have been two or more books with that title, I think there were, and that the first was as early as
the days of Irenseus. The original Gospel of Thomas is very likely the basis of those books which we now have under that name, but if so it was written to favour the
Gnostics,
and was opposed

it
which shows that

Canonical.
(6)
to the views of the orthodox, could never have claimed to be
identify with anything we
The Gospel of Matthias, which we cannot now possess, which Origen says
and which Eusebius condemns
as well as heretical.
was used by the

as impious
heretics,
and absurd,
is
first to really mention the same Irenseus who first names all our four, and declares them alone genuine. If you wish to get beyond Irenseus you must adopt the methods we follow you must rely on more modern authors, or upon
You
will
not forget that the

that
false
Gospels
There is no third course open, and alleged quotations. the sceptic is driven to uphold the claims of false Gospels
by the very measures he condemns when used to uphold
The Apocryphal
the true.
Gospels.
97
There are other arguments in support of the
four Gospels which cannot be
employed
for the
Apocry
phal books, but I have not time to enumerate them. They relate to the internal character of the books, the
use
made of them by sects, ancient translations, &c. Such of the false Gospels as are now extant are con
tained in
my
translation of them,
with a careful account
of them
1.
all.
They
are as follows
title
The Gospel of James, or Protevangelium, the latter having been given to it by Postel in 1552. It exists in Greek and in Latin, and contains an account of the birth,
education and marriage of Mary, of the birth of Jesus, and His being worshipped by the Magi. It probably received its actual form in about the fourth century,
though some of
2.
its
materials are older.

called
the
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, otherwise Book of the Birth of the Blessed Mary and
Hebrew by
Latin
of the
Infancy of our Saviour, and sometimes said to have been

written in
lated into
by Jerome.
century.
the Evangelist Matthew, and trans This book is a compila
tion not so ancient as the
dating from the
fifth
Gospel of James, but probably The original seems to have
been in Greek and an amplification of older documents. This we have 3. The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary.
in Latin,
and
as the writer uses

fifth
Jerome
It
s translation, it is
not older than the

Df Jesus.
4.
century.
ends with the birth
The Gospel
of Thomas, or Gospel of the Infancy of

this in several forms, very different
Jesus.
We
have
from
The Apocryphal
Gospels, &c,
London, 4th Edition, 1874.
98
each other, and
pels of
The Apocryphal
it
Gospels.
represents one of the oldest false
Gos
which we have any knowledge. record events in the life of Christ from
his twelfth.
tical,
It professes to
his fifth year to
There
is
no doubt that
its
origin
was here
represents the infant Saviour in a very unortho dox light. do not appear to have the primary form of the book, the nearest approach to it being in the Syriac
as
it
We
text,
which
the
my me in
5. is
volume.
have translated and printed at the end of Three others of different dates are given by
This of the Infancy, from the Arabic. in its actual form as some of
it
same work.
The Gospel
I
by no means so ancient
view
the others.
as a compilation from older
books
It begins with large additions by the Arabic editor. with the journey to Bethlehem and is continued down to
the twelfth year of Christ s age, but ends with a mention of His life onward until His baptism.
summary
6. The Gospel of Nicodemus, or the Acts of Pilate. This consists of two principal parts, which are often
separated, the first giving an account of the trial, death, and burial of Jesus, and the second an account of His
exploits
among
the dead.
It
be called the Acts of Pilate, which

older
has no right whatever to is the title of a much
and quite
different
document.
What we now have

commencement
five
exists in
several forms, but
none of them can be older
than the end of the fourth century or the

of the
fifth.
From what
has been said
it
will
appear that
out of
the six Apocryphal Gospels now extant relate solely to The events which terminate with the infancy of Jesus.
sixth of
them
relates to the concluding scenes in the life
The Apocryphal Gospels.
99
of Christ and the time during which He lay in the grave. Hence it is evident that none of them are in any sense the rivals of our Gospels, but are lame attempts to sup
plement them by means of imaginary narratives.
The
logical conclusion is that none of them are so ancient as our Gospels, the existence and authority of which is im
avoidance of the period of the Saviour s public ministry, the history of which had been already
plied
by
their
written
and was recognised as true. Gospels which have perished were, so far as i. Such as were, like can be ascertained, of three kinds
The
false
those
now
existing,
2.
endeavours
Canonical Gospels.
to supplement the Such as were of a mystical and

in Gnostic speculations.
allegorical description,
3.
abounding
Such
as were altered forms of
one or another of our
Gospels.
This brings us again to the conclusion that none of the Apocryphal Gospels were so ancient as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ; that few of them ever pretended
to rival these in authority,
and when they
did, that
it
was only within the limits of sects which departed Finally it follows, that widely from the common faith.
no known Apocryphal Gospel, whether extant or not, can claim to be a genuine production of the Apostolic Thus the only three ques age, or of Apostolic men. tions of importance which can be raised are settled.
are not genuine, they are without authority, and they are too modern. From a literary point of view the false and true Gospels
are as different as
books well can be.

all
Most of them
sense of the
never were Gospels at
in
the proper
ioo
The Apocryphal
Gospels.
four. far
word; and those which were so, were paraphrases of our The language and internal features place them as below ours as can well be imagined.
The uncon
liberty taken with them by transcribers and editors is utterly inconsistent with the idea that they were regarded as inspired productions. They have been trolled
ridiculed
and condemned from the
first
mention of them
seventeen centuries ago down to our own day. Many of them have utterly perished. Their very titles and
reputed authorship have not been respected, but have been changed according to the fancy of those who have
copied and published them.
No
competent
critic
or
scholar in any age or country has been able to give an honest verdict in their favour, although a few rationalistic
or sceptical writers have been anxious to think well of I two or three, of which we know next to nothing. decline to accept as judges in such a case such avowed
partisans of unbelief as have never studied either the Apocryphal Gospels or their history.
When men
ioo A.D.
"
like
Renan admit
that
all
the books of the
New
by about the year Testament were

read
them,"**
almost fixed in the form in which we

it ill
now
becomes those of
that the Apocryphal
lesser note to advocate the opinion Gospels of later d;ite were P
any
time in practice
simply know
ages,
it is
a part of the
New
after
Testament.
exile of so
We
many
they were not, and
an
not possible for them to gain the title which had a right to. never they I will conclude with three short extracts from the
Vie de Jesus,
I3th Edition, Introd. p. 34,
The Apocryphal
Gospels,
101
essay of Bishop Ellicott, one of the best ever written on the subject. Speaking of these Apocryphal Gospels, he
says
"
Our vital interest in Him of whom they pretend to tell us more than the Canonical Scriptures have recorded
the real, though it may be hidden, reason why these poor figments are read with interest, even while they are
is
know before we read them that (p. 156.) and are weak, silly, they profitless; that they are despicable
"
"
despised
We
monuments of religious fiction, yet still the secret conviction

buoys us up, that perchance they may contain a few traces of time-honoured traditions some faint, feeble glimpses
of that blessed childhood, that pensive and secluded youth, over which in passive moments, we muse with such
irrepressible longing to
desideration
"
(p.
157).
known
singular
for
their
own
such deep, deep they do not deserve to be sakes, they still involve several
"If
know more
; they illustrate some curious phases of early Christian thought and feeling ; they throw some light on ancient traditions, and certainly
and
interesting questions
have not been without influence on ancient and mediaeval

art"
The writer might have added that they (p. 158). have been very useful to the forgers of ecclesiastical fictions and superstitions, but have never promoted the
true interests of the
Christ,
Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
APPENDIX.
I
HAVE
not in this Lecture dealt with every one of the documents

in
which are included

reason for this
extant false
is,
my
volume of Apocryphal Gospels.

"
The
that I have inserted in that volume, not only the other documents Gospels, but, as the title says,
Christ."
relating to the History of
Those which are not mentioned
in the Lecture are
Jesus,
of Joseph the Carpenter ; the Letters ascribed to Abgar, and Lentulus ; the Prayer of Jesus ; the Story of Veronica ; the Letters ascribed to Pilate and Herod ; the Report of
Pilate
;
The History
the Trial and
Condemnation of
;
Pilate
the
Death
of
the Story of Joseph of Arimathea the Saviour.

Pilate
;
and the Revenging of
Of
into
the fictitious Gospels,

classes
:
two
Saviour, and (2)
it will be remembered that they fall Those which end with the early years of our those which begin with his trial and condemnation.
(i)
have no knowledge of any false Gospels, properly so called, which record the events of the ministry of Christ. The falsified Gospels which relate to his active ministry appear to have all been
modifications, or corrupted forms of one or another of our four. Of purely mystical or allegorical Gospels we know little, and need
We
say nothing. It has been thought desirable to supplement the foregoing Lecture by an outline of some one of each of the two extant classes of
Apocryphal Gospels. As those of each class contain so much in common, a sample of each will be sufficient to show what sort ol For the first I select the false materials they are made up of.
Gospel of Matthew, and for the second I take one form of the Gospel of Nicodemus.
Appendix.
03
The False Gospel of Matthew, or Gospel of Psatdo- Matthew, com mences with an account of one Joachim, of the tribe of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, who was a shepherd, and married one Anna,
with whom he lived twenty years without having a family. They were both very pious, and grieved over their childless lot, when a promise of offspring was given by an angel to Anna, and a like
These promise to Joachim, who was then absent from home. promises were fulfilled in the birth of Mary, who at three years of
age was consecrated to God, and was brought up in the temple till she was fifteen years old, when it was thought she should be married. The choice of a husband was decided by lot, and the lot fell upon
Joseph,
who was an
old man,
and had sons and grandchildren.
Joseph was reluctant to take her, but consented to keep her till he knew which of his sons might have her to wife. Mary soon
received messages from angels announcing the great honours in store for her, and after a time Joseph was distressed in finding her The news spread, and Joseph was taken before the pregnant.
Chief Priest and subjected to an ordeal along with Mary, but both came out free from blame.
Soon after, the taxing was ordered by Augustus, and Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem ; but before they reached that place Mary was overtaken by the pains of childbirth, and entered a cave
which was divinely illuminated.
While Joseph went
to seek assist
ance Jesus was born, and on Joseph s return with two women, Zelomi and Salome, the last had her hand wit heredas a punishment
was cured by touching the border of the infant s After a reference to the shepherds, and a star which shone over the cave, we read that on the third day Mary left the cave and
of unbelief, but
clothes.
went into a stable with the babe, where the ox and ass adored him. On the sixth day they entered Bethlehem, and on the eighth the child was circumcised, and Simeon and Anna worship Jesus in the
Two years later the Magi come from the East, Herod is enraged, and the flight into Egypt follows to escape from the death The family enter a cave where dragons are seen, but intended.
temple.
Lions and leopards in the wilder they adore Jesus and leave him. ness form a sort of reverential body guard and guide. After three
days
Mary longed
for the fruit of a
palm
tree,
and
at the bidding of
04
it
Appendix.
her infant
bowed down
its
gushed from
roots,
till all its fruit was gathered, a spring and an angel took one of the branches to
plant in paradise.
lously shortened
it,
The journey being wearisome,

so that they found
Jesus miracu
Egypt at once before their Entering Hermopolis they were refused hospitality, so eyes. entered a temple where three hundred and fifty-five idols were, and All straightway these idols all fell to the ground and were broken. the people of the city believed in the Lord God through Jesus Christ. After returning from Egypt and being in Galilee, Jesus, now four years old, played by the Jordan, and collected water in pools with mud banks. A boy broke down the pools, and Jesus cursed him and he died, but on entreaty and with a kick restored him to life. Another day he made sparrows of mud, and when complaint was made that it was the Sabbath, he clapped his hands and bade A second boy who broke the birds fly away, which they did. down the pools was stricken with death. Joseph being afraid, took As they went, a rude boy tmshed Jesus away to lead him home. After entreaty, Jesus pulled this boy against him and at once died. up by the ear and bade him live, which he did. Some time after one Zaccheus wanted to teach Jesus, but the child quite confounded him with his speeches. However, a second application was made, and the pupil was intractable, so the master hit him with a stick, which brought from him another of his wonderful speeches. The family then removed to Nazareth, where, while playing on a house top with Jesus, a boy fell down and died, but was raised to life by Jesus. After this he was sent to the fountain for water, being now six years old, and on the way back a child thrust against him and broke the pitcher, so Jesus spread out
and took home in it as much water as there was in the Again, he sowed a little wheat, which multiplied im At eight years of age, near Jericho, he entered a cavern mensely. where there was a lioness and her whelps. The old lion fawned
his cloak
pitcher.
on him and adored him, and the young ones fawned and played He then crossed the Jordan with the lions, the river and he dismissed them. dividing to let him and them go over, received one day an order for a couch, and a carpenter Joseph being one piece top tqld Jesqs to cut the wood, which he did, but cut
with him.
Appendix.
fshort,
105
which made Joseph angry. So Jesus made him take the two and they pulled the short one to the proper length. A second time he went to school, and the master struck him and died. A third time he went to school, and his sayings so amazed them
pieces,
(hat they worshipped him. After these things the family

raised a
removed
to
dead
man
to
life.
Then they went
to Bethlehem,
Capernaum, where he where he
cured the hand of James, which a viper had bitten. The whole concludes with a family sketch, indicating the reverence with which
was regarded. The Gospel of Nicodemus opens with a preface declaring that one Ananias had found the book in Hebrew, and translated it into Then follows the accusation which the Greek about A.D. 440. Jewish priests and others laid against Jesus before Pilate, who gave orders that Jesus should be brought. The officer who went io fetch him no sooner saw him than he worshipped him, and spread a scarf on the ground for him to walk on, but returned without
fesus
him.
Being sent again the
officer
did as before, and
when Jesus
This it entered, the tops of the imperial standards bowed to Jesus. was alleged was a trick of the men -who held the standards, so
others were chosen
Pilate
by the Jews themselves, with no better result. was troubled by this, and by a message from his wife who had had a strange dream. However, the trial proceeded, and charges were adduced, though witnesses proved them false. Eventu
ally Pilate partly consents to his death,
whereupon Nicodemus,
followed by various others, bear testimony in his favour. Several details succeed, which are based upon the Gospel record, and Jesus is at last crucified and buried. Joseph of Arimathea is caught by the
Jews and imprisoned. The report of the resurrection of Jesus is accompanied by the announcement that Joseph had been miracu Sundry confirmations of these events, and lously set at liberty.
discussions are introduced.
Search
is
made
is
Evidence the story of his deliverance. tion of Jesus, and of his ascension.
favour of Christ
to be convinced.
is
for Joseph, who gives obtained of the resurrec
A wonderful impression in produced, so that even Annas and Caiaphas seem Amid general demonstrations of joy, the firs{
is
p$rt of
Nicodemus
brought to a close.
io6
Appendix.
The second part begins with an intimation that of those whom Jesus had raised from the dead, the two sons of Simeon were living, and might perhaps be brought to narrate what they knew. The
cross
two men were accordingly sent for, and having made the sign of the and asked for pen, ink, and paper, sat down and wrote their
They were in the underworld, or Hades, they said, among the departed, when there appeared a great light causing great com motion. Abraham, Isaiah, and John the Baptist point out the true
story.
reason,
oil
and
Adam
calls
on
his
own son Seth
to tell the story of the
of mercy. Meanwhile Satan is in consternation, and holds an animated conversation with Hades, which is disturbed by the
whom Hades is compelled, much against his Hades owns himself subdued, and the King of Glory orders Satan to be bound in irons and placed in charge of Hades. Jesus calls Adam and blesses him, and removes him from Hades with patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, and ancestors, who are taken to Paradise, where they meet Enoch and Elijah, and soon All this the two brothers saw and heard, after the repentant thief. and were appointed to make known. Having handed their papers
approach of Jesus,
will, to
admit.
to the chief priests,
and
to
With
their disappearance the
Joseph and Nicodemus, they vanished. whole story ends.

false
It is evident that the so-called
Gospel of Matthew
is
little
and puerile stones, with only just enough allusion to the facts of our Gospels to show that the writer or writers knew them. The greater portion of the details are mythical and Taken in con legendary, and therefore not at all founded on fact. nection with the malevolent character and capricious habits of
more than a
series of idle
Jesus, they stand in painful contrast with the representations of which we find in the four Gospels. As the string of fables which
Him
convey no moral resemble in no

Christ from that of the
literary feature the Evangelical re

is
cords, so the ideal Christ of the false Gospeller
quite a different
New
Testament.
Even
in the narration of
alleged matters of fact the false Gospel is often not only at variance with the true Gospels, but contradicts what we otherwise know to be
true.
Pseudo-Matthew used older similar books, and them as he chose. He never rises to the dignity of a historian, and indulges his fancy for the grotesque and
The
writer of
.added to
them or
altered
Appendix.
marvellous.
written
107
He has no critical faculty whatever, and seems to have more to amuse children than to instruct men unless, indeed, he wished to astonish the ignorant, and to propagate erroneous ideas
;
of Christ.
If his intentions
were harmless,
his
views were incoherent
and
inconsistent,
inary Gospel. we have is as near any approach to the mythical as can be imagined. He jumbles the impossible, the improbable, and the unnatural to
and he failed to produce even a plausible prelim What he wrote has probably been altered, but what
gether in such a way that nobody can believe his tale. How different from the natural, truthful, and beautiful allusions and narrations of the Evangelists.
The Gospel
of
Nicodemus was written
at different times
and by
Dr. Lipsius, an eminent German critic, believes that it comprises not fewer than five portions of various dates. The book he thinks was in substance written between A.D. 326 and
different persons.
376, but
it
received additions and alterations at a
much
later date.
The
first
great division
makes
free use of the Gospels,
and
intro
duces episodes and developments for the sake of effect. The second division is a simple fiction, the author of which allowed his imagi nation perfect liberty. Dr. Lipsius thinks this second part origi
is
it
nated with the Gnostics in the third century, but its present form not older than the latter part of the fourth century, after which
was adopted and moulded up with the other. It is needless to it further, though it should be said that both divisions, with all their -faults, are superior to the other Apocryphal Gospels. From the summary it will be seen that the object in view has been
criticise
to produce a sort of supplement to the Gospels. The attempts to concoct preliminary and supplementary Gospels are easily accounted for, one chief reason being the desire to be
wise above what
is
written.
The
desire for such
wisdom has
led
to the invention of these idle tales, as
most of them truly are. The solemn simplicity and earnestness of purpose which the Canonical
Gospels exemplify, will for ever as it heretofore has done, keep them at an immeasurable elevation above these poor rivals and
helpers.
puerility.
The mythical
It
spirit
is
a childish
spirit,
and
its fruits
are
the spirit
cannot hope to win even literary respectability. But of the Gospel writers is pure and noble, and with literary
io8
honour,
Appendix.
Of moral and combines moral and spiritual power. power the false Gospels are utterly destitute, because they fail to appreciate and exhibit the true and living Christ. Having neither intellectual, moral, nor spiritual vitality, none can wonder That they have at the discredit under which they have existed. existed, any of them at all until now, has been due partly to the curiosity which they have awakened, and perhaps a little to their vain promise to tell us a few facts about our Saviour and not in
spiritual
the four Canonical Gospels.
THE EVIDENTIAL VALUE OP THE EARLY EPISTLES OF ST. PA UL VIE WED AS HIS TORICAL DOCUMENTS.
BY THE
REV.
PROFESSOR LORIMER,
D.D.,
Londo ,1,
Professor of Theology in the English Presbyterian College,
o!
tk
(Bpistk0 of (St. fhml

toittotb
as Ipstorkai 90oraieiit0,
Paul include two Epistles
IP HE
early Epistles of St.
two to the Corinthians, the and the Epistle to the Romans. to the Galatians, Epistle
to the Thessalonians,
They are the They were all

years after
oldest
writings
in the
New
Testament.
between twenty-five arid thirty the death of Christ, and have the remarkable
written
distinction of being the earliest literary
monuments of any
kind, or from any source, or in any language, relating to Christianity and the Christian Church which have come
down
to us, without challenge
from almost any quarter,
from ancient times.
You
will allow
me
to start with these statements with
out proof, for there is nobody now -or hardly anybody who denies them. The genuineness of the last four of
these Epistles
is now conceded by all eminent scholars even critics, by Strauss and Rdnan themselves ; and Baur and a few of his disciples had something though
and
to say against the genuineness of the Epistles to the
Thessalonians,
we may
take
it
as
good proof
that there
Ii2
The Evidential Value of the Early

little
Epistles
was Very
set aside
force in their objections

critics
when they
are all
by such
of our
Dr. Davidson,
who
are in
and no way characterised by a
own
as Prof. Jowett
conservative or traditional style of criticism, but very much the reverse. The least conservative of the two is
Dr. Davidson who, in the later and

edition of his "Introduction to the
more
rationalistic
remarks that
the assaults
I
"the
Testament/ established authorship of these two

place
New
Epistles will hold

it
its
among
critics
notwithstanding
has
encountered."
propose to handle these early Epistles of St. Paul simply as historical documents simply as I would make use of the Epistles of Cicero or Pliny, or the Letters and
Despatches of Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington. I have nothing to say at present on the subject of their Inspiration or Divine Authority.
I
am
to treat of their Evidential Value as
historical
documents.
By
and
that I
mean
their value as attestations to
the truth of Christianity

authenticity
at least in its
as vouchers especially for the
certainty of the earliest Christian history, chief outlines, as given in the four Gospels
and the Acts of the Apostles. As attestations and vouchers of historical facts, no documents are more valuable than
the original letters of the personages who were the chief actors in history. Hence the diligence and care with
.
which the
original
correspondence of such persons
is
preserved, collected world. And if this

ciple
of historical
edited, and published to the is admitted by all as a general prin criticism, how can it be denied in
and
reference to Christian history ? Was not St. Paul a chief actor in the earliest history of the Christian Church ?
of
St.
Paul viewed as Historical Documents*
x j
And why
letters
primary authority in that

field?
should not his original letters have the same field of inquiry as the original
in
of any other historical personage
any other
which the early Epistles of

evidentially to bear.
There are three great subjects of Christian history on St. Paul can thus be brought
first
The
faith.
of these
is
the
life
and
history
of Jesus
Christ Himself, the
of that
Author and Finisher of the Christian Distinguish between the great historical outlines life and the minute details of word, deed and
incident with which the four written Gospels fill up the outlines. It is not pretended that more than the outlinefacts of the life are to
be found in these Epistles ; they contain or imply none of the details, or very few of them. But it is of great evidential importance that they clearly
recite
I
and everywhere imply the

the advent
include
of Christ,
in Judea,
His
crucifixion,
which His public ministry His ascension, and His in

outline-facts, in
This proves un auguration of the Pentecostal Church. at that least these chief answerably Gospel facts were
known and accepted throughout

Gentiles, in Asia
histories
all
the churches of the
and Europe, before any of the Gospel were written. These facts were everywhere
received as the ultimate historical ground of the Christian Church and the Christian life. Even, therefore, if you
could destroy the credit of the written Gospels as genuine and credible writings of the Apostolic age, you should not
thereby destroy the truth and
facts
reality of the outline
which
facts
These
were everywhere received before them. are to be distinguished from all the Gospel
8
ii4
TIi& Evidential Value of the
Early Epistles
whether Canonical or not, that were after wards written upon the basis of these facts. It was because these foundation-facts were from the first
narratives,
accepted as historical verities by

full
all
life
Christians that the
and detailed narratives of the
of Christ were after
wards composed. Nothing therefore of any real effect is done on the side of unbelief, if you merely try to destroy
What unbelievers the authority of the written Gospels. need to achieve is to destroy the credit of the groundfacts
tives
which were received many years before these narra were written. You do not attack the primary You do not foundations in attacking the later histories.
shake the foundations by shaking the histories even it I were to admit, which I do not, that you do shake them
and till the very foundations of the edifice are shaken and displaced the edifice will stand firm like an impreg
nable fortress upon a rock.
second great subject to which these Epistles of
St.
Paul apply, in a very authoritative and decisive way, is the personal history cf St. Paul himself a point of early
to the history of Christ himself.
Christian history inferior only in fundamental importance What better or more
authoritative evidence could
we have on
everything per
sonally relating to St. Paul than the genuine Epistles of If Cicero s Epistles are of primary St. Paul himself? on everything relating to the life of Cicero for authority
instance, as to his
he attained
home education, the schools in which knowledge of the Greek philosophy, and the foreign philosophers from whom he learned the most, and whom he valued most why, I ask, should not
his
s
Paul
Epistles be also of primary authority in everything
of
St.
Paul viewed as
Historical Documents.
15
relating personally to St. Paul ?
As
to his education, for
example, and the various sources or
schools, whether in
Tarsus or Jerusalem, from which he derived his culture and knowledge, who could inform us so well and with
so
much
ticularly
authority as Saul of Tarsus himself? as to the sources from which he
And
drew
par
his
knowledge of Christianity itself; and how it came to pass that he who began his public career as a fanatical persecutor of the Christians very soon went over with
whole soul to the cause which he had persecuted, and became, to the equal astonishment of friends and foes, its foremost champion surely St. Paul himself, on all
his
ordinary principles of historical judgment, is better able to give us accurate information than any other man.
Surely
St.
Paul himself
is
more worth
listening to
on
all
biography, and better entitled to belief (if you simply allow that he was an honest man, and not a cheat and an impostor) than any critic of the nine
such points of his
own
teenth century can pretend to be. If I believe Cicero on such particulars of his personal history with entire reliance,
why am
Cicero
is
not to believe St. Paul on similar points ? If of primary authority on such personal particulars,
why
not
is St.
Paul to be no authority at
all ?
If
you would
Renan contradicting Cicero on such known to none so well as to Cicero himself, why matters, should you believe Renan contradicting St. Paul on
believe
matters of which he and he only had and could have absolute knowledge? Why am I to believe Renan
assuring
me
that the
Gospel which
doctrine
St.
Paul began to
preach was a
Jewish, partly Greek, partly Oriental, put together skilfully by himself

partly
mixed
The Evidential Value of the Early Epistles
a Gospel which in this way was a mere natural product of all the world s best previous thinking, and having
nothing supernatural in it at all either as to source or Why, I say, am I to believe this teaching of authority his in the teeth of all that St. Paul says upon the sub
ject himself
?
If I
would be quite
right to believe Cicero
points of Cicero s mental history, am I not equally right to believe Paul rather than Re nan on points of Paul s mental history as a Christian
rather than
disciple
Re nan on
and convert ? Of course I am speaking only of facts and incidents in the lives of either, not of Cicero s or Paul s deductions from the facts. They
might be mistaken in their deductions, but they could not be mistaken as to the facts themselves. We may
feel quite certain that St.
Paul did not go to the sources
of Greek and Oriental wisdom for the Gospel which he preached to the world, when he tells us himself as a point of his own biography that these were not his sources.
There are other important questions of and the history of his work to which his
apply
as, for
St.
Paul
life
early Epistles
example, the relations in which he stood
to St. Peter
and the other Apostles, and the question
whether Christianity in his hands grew as the development of a myth grows, or whether this new Straussian theory
of the
basis
rise
of the Christian system

historical
is
and
foothold.
On
the
without any real first of these
Epistle to the Galatians is of primary as Paul knew best the whole authority ; history of his relations to the other Apostles, and the real state of
questions
the
and
feeling with regard to them and their the churches and which they had planted, and: ministry
his
own mind and
of
St.
Paul viewed as Historical

life
Docuntetiis.
1 1 7
the forms of Christian and Church
which they favoured
and propagated, no theory of these things the theory of Baur, e.g. can possibly be a true one which exaggerates
or diminishes the
statements
of
St.
Paul himself, or
tells
makes him
his
feel or act differently
from what he
Epistle.
us of
is
own
feelings
and
acts in
this
Nor
his
great Epistle to the in relation to that
Romans
:
less relevant
and important
other grand question debated so keenly in our own time Whether the theology of the Epistles of the New Testament is a mythological re casting and re-clothing of a few natural elementary facts of the
life
of Christ
The evidence
decisive.
furnished by the
less
Epistle to the
to
Romans
and
in negation of this theory appears
me
to be final
Within
years after the
death of Christ
we have
there a
than thirty full, ex
haustive and almost systematic exhibition of the whole body of Christian doctrine and morals. If Christianity
be a mythology, as alleged by Strauss and others, in what a brief space of time has the myth been developed And
!
how
extraordinary,
how unexampled
that
all
this
should
of a single
have been developed in a single mind, during the half life and this too (Saul s miraculous conversion
!
being on the same theory denied) without any expla nation being possible of the quarter from which the original stimulus to such a mythological process in this
single
mind was
derived.
The
truth briefly
is
(for
cannot dwell upon the subject further at present), the

existence of the Epistle to the Romans is, singly and alone, fatal to the credit of such a mythological theory of
Christianity^;
fulness,
its
very early date, and
and
its
its grand doctrinal thorough maturity of dogmatic state-
n8
The Evidential Value of
the
Early Epistles
ment, are
all utterly irreconcilable
with the theory.
AH
the conditions are proved by this Epistle to have been absent, to have been reversed, which all experience has
shown
to
be indispensable to the development of grand

It
masses and systems of myth.

centuries
and more
to develop the
has taken eighteen mythology of Mary in
the Church of
Rome, and the myth is not yet complete ; but in less than three decades after the death of Jesus of
Nazareth, the Son of David
the
is
Romans
"the
Son of God with
already in the Epistle to declared power,"
and set apart as such from all other sons of men by His resurrection from the dead. (Rom. i. 3, 4.) The Lord both Christ over all Crucified One is already of the dead and living; to whom every knee shall bow
"
and every tongue
confess."
(Rom.
!
xiv. 9,
n.)
What
a difference which, mighty difference in the two cases more than any other of the Epistles, this Epistle helps us
and to understand. Such are two of the fundamental subjects of Christian history upon which the early Epistles of St. Paul can be brought to bear with much evidential force and effect.
to estimate
But
upon them,
I do not dwell merely indicate them at present. for I wish to go more fully into a third
subject of fundamental importance in the early history of Christianity and the Church, upon which these Epistles
seem to me to have an interesting and effective bearing, and to which I purpose to devote the remainder of the
present lecture. The Christian Church maintains that
there
was a
supernatural element not only in the life of Christ and in the conversion and mission of St. Paul (the two subjects
of
to
St.
Paul viewed as Historical Documents.

have hitherto
referred), but
1 1
which
no
less also in
the earliest propagation of Christianity throughout the world in the earliest manifestations and church-organi
the Christian life, both among Jews and As our Apostle expresses it Our Gospel came to men not in word only but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." He Our Gospel says, meaning the Gospel which he
sations
of
Gentiles.
"
"
"
himself preached and propagated throughout the world, and the working and effects of which upon men none knew so well as himself, or were so well able to speak
about.
to
Well, then, I propose that
we should now
listen
him speaking about these very points, and I could not have done better than to quote these few words of his
which he as much as tells us that there was something more than natural in the effects produced it came not in word by the Gospel on the world, for
just recited, in
"
only, but also in power;" and he means a Divine power, for he adds in the Holy Ghost/ and therefore also
"
"in
much
assurance," i.e.,
it
with a force and effect of such
deep conviction that

faith
gave
and hope
life,
carried
men the courage of a new men right over to the side of

everywhere of Christian and
Christ, laid the foundations
in that first Christian century a grand history and progress which has continued un broken ever since, and is still going on with unexhausted
Church
and commenced
force before the face of the
whole world.
upon the argument let me announce the method of using the Epistles which I mean to adopt, and the principles of historical reason ing which I intend to apply.
clearly
Before I break ground
120

the nature of
the
Early Epistles
Remember
letters,
the historical
documents
which are now before us
and
; they are not treatises, they are not letters addressed to individuals, but to
communities
to the Christian
communities or societies
of Thessalonica, Corinth, Galatia, and Rome. They refer to subjects of common concern between the writer
and these communities ; they are full of express refer ences to matters of Christian faith and life ; and, passing from a Christian Apostle to his Christian disciples and
converts,
they
of
everywhere assume and proceed upon

facts
numerous Christian
institutes
believed in
attached.
and doctrines and usages and life in which he and they to or which common, they were in common
the Christian
are in presence, therefore, everywhere in these pages not only of what he believed, but of what they believed as well as he ; in presence of Christian facts
We
which
so to them.
were not only such to him, but quite as much For it was upon this basis of common faith
and fact that the correspondence between him and them proceeded. But for this common basis the basis on which these societies were founded there could have existed no such correspondence of apostolic letters at all; no, nor even any such relation of apostleship and discipleship between the parties.
But here
I
make a
distinction (an important
one
in
for
my
present argument)
among
to
these matters of Christian
faith
and
fact
common
both
the
parties
the
These Christian communities believed in many Christian facts of which they had no inde pendent knowledge from their own observation ; such, e.g., as all the facts of Christ s life which the Apostle had
correspondence.
of
St.
121
communicated
own
the
to them, or all the facts concerning conversion and apostleship, which were known
his in
first
instance only to himself

I
and a very small num

to
ber of other witnesses.
do not mean
make any
use
of such facts as these, or of their belief in them, because in relation to these their testimony was of no authority
at least, of
no primary
eye-witnesses of them. all their knowledge of
authority. They had not been They had been dependent foi them upon St. Paul s own teach
ing and testimony ; and their reception of them, in the first instance at least, was only the echo of his own voice.
But I am going to point out several facts referred to in several facts of a these Epistles of quite a different kind which the character Apostle refers to as supernatural
having taken place
among themselves
before their
own
eyes, and within the scope of their own independent knowledge he too having been an eye-witness of them himself. Here then is apparently a common basis of knowledge and conviction between the two
parties
in
in
regard
to
facts
of
supernatural
kind,
on equal terms, both having an original, primary, and independent know If this can be ledge and conviction of their reality. shown to be more than an apparency of a common basis of knowledge and conviction if it can be shown that both parties had and must have had this common know ledge and conviction (otherwise the references to these supernatural facts and experiences could never have oc
which
both
parties
are
curred in the Epistles), then the argumentative, evidential effect of this will clearly be to prove that these matters of supernatural fact rest on the united testimony both of
122
the
Early Epistles
the Apostle and the churches that the testimony in both cases was original and of primary authority, and that the
Epistles before us become virtually and in effect the joint attestation to these facts of the Apostle as having seen
them with
his
own
eyes,
and of hundreds of men
in
Thessalonica, Corinth, Galatia, and Rome, as having seen them and known them to be facts as well as he.
I shall
Proceeding now to the substance of the argument itself. be able to do little more than to suggest the chief
will
own reflection when you turn, be induced to do, to the Epistles hope you themselves, to read them over again in view of the evi
points as subjects for your
as I
dential
values
of their
contents which this lecture will
point out.
i.
First then let us
Thessalonians to see what
turn to the two Epistles to the is to be found there on the
subject of the new Christian character and life which had sprung up in Thessalonica under the Apostle s preaching,
and had continued

since his recent
to thrive
and grow and develop
itself
visit.
One
:
"
or two readings will suffice to
set this picture before us

(i.
thanks to God always fot mention of you in our prayers ; remem you all, making without faith, and labour oflovf* ceasing your work of bering
Thess.
i.
2, 3.)
We give
and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father" (i. Thess. i.8-io.) In every plact your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need
"
not to speak anything. manner of entering in

to
For they themselves shew of iis what
God from
idols to
we had unto you, and how ye turned serve the living and true God; and
to
wait for His Son from heaven,
whom He
raised from
of St Paul viewed as Historical Documents.

the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the to come. (i.Thess. ii. i.) For yourselves, brethren,
123
wrath
know
our entrance in unto you, that
it
was
not in
vain"
All at once, on hearing the preaching of Paul, these Thessalonians had abandoned their idolatries and turned
to the living
and
true
God, to serve
Him
in a holy
and
blameless
life,
in the
power of a
new and heavenly hope.
they had become men of faith and faith s work men of love and love s labour men of hope and of hope s patience, in the midst of persecution and affliction endured on account of their new faith and life. Nor was this sudden change illusory and transient. Months passed away, and a second letter is despatched to them, beginning in the same strain of warm-hearted thankfulness. (2. Thess. i. 3, 4.) We are bound to thank
All at once
"
God always for
you, brethren, as
it
is meet,
because that
your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we
ourselves glory in
patience
you
in the churches of
and faith
in all your persecutions
God for your and tribulations
that ye
endure."
Was strong and high-coloured. the Apostle flattering them ? Did he use such words as a cloke of coveteousness concealing and subserv ing some selfish ends and designs of his own ? Impos
"
"
The language seems
for what does he say to them on this very point sible of flattery and cloaked self-seeking? (Chap. ii. 5.) Ap pealing directly to their own knowledge of him and his
!
For neither at any time used ways, he could boldly say, we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousNor of men sought we glory, ness, as God is witness.
"
24
the
Early
Epistles
neither of you nor yet of others burdensome as the Apostles of

flattered these Thessalonians,
whom we
Christ"
might have been He had nevei
and they knew it. All he and growth of the Christian life among them was no more than the truth ; for which he might well give fervent and constant thanks to God. But how could he have thanked Him for a flattery and a
says here about the rise
lie ?
Would he have dared

flatterer, if
to appeal to these
men
as
being no
he had been conscious that he was
even now
racter
flattering
life ?
them
flatter
in
and
To
thus describing their cha them, and in the same breath

of
to appeal to their
own knowledge
him
that he had
never been a
flatterer, is that
conceivable in such a
man ?
not such a proceeding have been utterly fatal to his character and credit among them as their religious
teacher and guide
?
And would
Here then we have virtually a joint testimony froiE him and from them as to the matter of fact in question
the
first
appearance in Thessalonica of Christian cha
and life, and of Church society resting upon these. It marks a grand epoch in the It is a memorable fact. of and Greece of Here in Macedonia history Europe. and in Thessalonica, is the first rise of Christian life
racter
under the ministry of the great Apostle of the Gentiles.

It
is
quite a
new and
never
it
effects of religious
The like strange phenomenon. and moral teaching had never been
seen before
Jews.
among
the Pagans, never
among
the
was the same wherever the Apostle had been, or was yet to be in the fulfilment of his mission in Galatia, in Ephesus, in Corinth, and in Rome. His experience everywhere was what he expresses in one of
And
of
his
St.

v.
125
:
Epistles to the Corinthians (2 Cor.

is
17, 18)
"If
any man
in
Christ,"
"
if
any man becomes a

!
real
and
true Christian,
he
is
a new creature; old things are
passed away from him, behold all things are made new ; arid all things," he adds, all these things of the Chris
tian
man and
!
the Christian
life,
"are
of
God."
Yes
All these things, he asserted,
were of
God.
They had a Divine source and origin. These spiritual and moral phenomena never seen in the world before, which the Gospel of Christ was everywhere calling forth into view, had a supernatural character and quality about them not sprung from the lap of mother-nature, but born of a truth and a power which had both descended from heaven, from the love and grace of the Heavenly
Father.
case defy contradiction. Do you s explanation of them ? He accept maintained the facts to have a supernatural cause in two
The
facts
of the
also
the Apostle
distinct particulars, viz., in a
and
in a
Gospel Divinely revealed Divine presence and power accompanying this
Gospel.
Do you
it,
accept this solution of the origin of

its
the facts in either or in both
parts, or
do you disallow
and
reject
and
substitute another of a naturalistic

if
kind, asserting that even
we have been looking

to think that
at,
you
the facts were really such as still see no sufficient reason
they had anything in them which was beyond the powers of nature to produce ?
This brings me to the second link in the chain of I invite you to proof which I wish to present to you.
2.
turn with me for our second reading of these Epistles to the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
126
the
Early Epistles
suppose that your view of the Gospel is human thing, a mere natural product of the age in which it was first preached to the world. In the case of St. Paul in particular, its chief preacher
that
it is
Let
me
a merely
and propagator, your view, I suppose, would be that in his hands the Gospel was nothing more than a com plex or mixture of the best things which he had learned in the schools of Tarsus and Jerusalem, with some
perhaps, of Oriental sources of Alexandria, Jewish
addition,
ideas
from the Grecoeffect of his
The whole
this
preaching, you think, gredients of human wisdom.
was due to
either
combination of in
It was a great improve or Heathenism, Judaism upon The Alexandrian mixture of the two taken separately. in such writers as Philo had already made something
ment, you admit,
better than either,
was something better

ficient to
and the Pauline mixture of the three still j and this, you think, is suf
its
account for
power
to
work the
effects
it
did.
Well,
way of thinking into com the convictions of the with the and experiences parison most earnest minds at the time when Christianity was making its earliest conquests in Corinth. The situation
then, let
me
bring this
of matters there was singularly appropriate for such a comparison; for not only the Jewish and the Greek wisdom but also the Alexandrian gnosis or science had
representatives among the Corinthian Christians at that very time ; for Apollos of Alexandria had arrrived excel there shortly after the Apostle s first visit, and his
its
"
lency of speech and of wisdom had made so great an impression upon those who were able to appreciate them
"
that a party
had
arisen in the
Church who preferred
to
be
of
St.
127
called the disciples of Apollos rather than of Paul. It was partly owing to this movement which, without any blame attaching to Apollos, had taken the direction, after
he
left
Corinth,
of an undue
wisdom and
rhetoric in the things
overvaluing of human of God, that the
Apostle addressed to the Church this very Epistle. And it was with the view of correcting this dangerous tendency
that he
penned the remarkable passages which we are

:
"
now
to consider
i.
(i Cor.
17-19.)
Christ sent
me
not to baptize, but to
preach the Gospel ; not with
of Christ should be of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness ; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is
written,
wisdom of words; less the cross made of none effect. For the preaching
will destroy the
wisdom of
the wise,
and
will
bring
to
nothing the understanding of the prudent"
You
see here
how
far the
Apostle was from thinking
that the preaching of the Gospel was only one of the better forms, or the very best extant form of human
wisdom, or that human wisdom had anything to do with The very contrary was his conviction on giving it effect.
both points.
the
The Gospel was simply

and the whole
its
Cross of Christ,
the preaching of power of that
preaching lay in
nality.
own
it
absolute newness
and
with
origi
it
To mix
it,
anything of
human wisdom
weak
as all
was
to
spoil
and make
wisdom had been. No of the wise," and an "understanding of the prudent," and these were all well enough in their own place and
"
mere human doubt there was also a wisdom

as
for their
own
work.
But
it
was never possible that they
should have the place and the power of saving souls
T2 8
The Evidential Value of the Early Epistles
of delivering men, that is to say, from the yoke and power, the bondage and the misery of sin, and bringing
them back
is
into
St.
a power,
alone,
God
God s image and God s peace. That Paul thought, which comes forth from and which is communicated only in the
"
preaching of the Cross. That is a power which "the wisdom of the wise may put in a claim to possess, and
which
to
"
the understanding of the prudent

"I
"
may
affect
the put forth, but God has said, wisdom of the wise, I will bring to nothing the under in the sense of exposing to standing of the prudent
will destroy
"
and impotence for any such and work. For such work the wisdom saving redeeming of man is folly, and the strength of man utter weakness and abortion. Not only has God said it, He has also made it good by the demonstration of world-facts and For mark how the Apostle goes on world-history. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? (vv. 20 25) where is the dispnter of this world } Did not God make, foolish (i.e., convict offoolishness] the wisdom of the world } For when in the wisdom of God (i.e., in His wise dispen sation and ordering of epochs and events] the world through its wisdom knew not God (i.e., had failed utterly to reach the knowledge of His mind and wilt), it pleased God through
shame
their utter emptiness
"
the foolishness ofpreaching to save the
them that
believe.
For
Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling
and
to the
block
called, both
Jews and
Greeks foolishness, bid to them which are Greeks, Christ the power of God and
the
wisdom of God.
;
Because the foolishness of
God is
wiser
than men
and the weakness of God is
stronger than
men?
of
St.
Paul viewed as
39
In other words, it is proved by the whole history of the world down to the era of Christ that no wisdom of man is able to save the souls of men from sin, and that the Gospel of Christ which is able to do this for mankind, and has already done it in the experience of so many, is not any form or growth or adaptation of human wisdom
but a Gospel of Heaven. In point of
its
God^
truth revealed to
men from
world at
fact,
and of
its
history, the
advent was
still
unsaved from
sin
in spite of all
the boasted
wisdom of the schools of Greece, of Jeru In point of fact it is the preaching and the East. salem,
of the Cross alone that has brought to the world an epoch of salvation a way of life and peace. Some men
call
it
indeed foolishness, but none the
wiser wisdom.
none the less it But now mark well what follows next
less it is God s Some men scoff at it as weakness, but is God s stronger strength.
in the Apostle s
He makes his appeal in support of all this to pleading. the independent knowledge and experience of the
Corinthians themselves.
He
compares ideas with them,

their
he makes a confident
call
upon
own
consciousness
and knowledge and recollection to support his own "For consider your calling, brethren, how, (vv. 26 end) that not many (ofyou) were wise men after the Jlesh (i.e.,
:
in the sense of human wisdom), not many mighty men, not many noble. But God chose the foolish things of the world that He might put to shame the things that are
wise,
and God
chose the
weak
things of the
world that
He
might put
to
shame
the things that are mighty,
and
the base things of the
world and the things which are des

which arc
not, that
pised
did
God
ckoose, yea, the. things
!3o
the
Early Epistles
He might bring to
nought the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Chris. Jesus, who from God was made imto us wisdom, ana
righteousness,
and
it is
sancttfication,
and
redemption.
let
according as
the
written,
He that glorieth
That him glory in

the gist of
Lord?
What
in
commoner language
is
all this ?
Simply that the Corinthians themselves were instances and proofs of the truth of what the Apostle
had said, and could be appealed to as such. Who and what were these Corinthian Christians ? Not many of them were men of high education, or of much rank and influence in the society of their great city. It was not
to these advantages that they could ascribe the change that had come over their whole character and life as Christian
men.
religious
All these advantages had done nothing for the and moral condition of the few among them who
possessed them, and the great majority of them had never possessed these advantages at all. The preaching of the Cross, and that alone, had done for them what all the
wisdom, and teaching, and influence of men had never been able to achieve. They were now for the first time
new men
hope
;
new
creatures in character, life-habit,
and
life-
but they had become so only in Christ Jesus-
only by the knowledge and faith of His truth and grace, only by the preaching of Christ the power of God, and
the
wisdom of God. This is what I take to be the true meaning of the Apostle s vigorous words about the con founding of the wise by the foolish, and of the mighty by the weak, and about the bringing to nought of the things
that are
by the
things that are not
of the
men
that were
somethings in the world by the
men
that were nothings
of
in
St.

!
131
it,
or mere nonentities.
how
seats
the tables are turned
world of
Him
are
"
For see (he as much as says) now by the coming in upon the who brings down the mighty from their
meek."
and exalteth the humble and
It is the fools
now who
who
wise in Christ, and the weak strong, and the nobodies somebodies. It is the Christless wise
made
are fools now, the Christless strong who are weak now, the Christless somebodies who are nobodies now in religion and morals, in the true philosophy of life, in
life s
true use, and work, and hope. beg you, to remember and realise that all this is put by the Apostle in this place, not as a matter of doctrine or theology, but as a matter of fact and history
I
as a matter of actual experience and observation, and therefore of special value and weight for the purposes
of
my argument. It is a lesson of history which the Apostle here reads off to us, as it was plainly taught by all that he had read in the annals of the world, by all
that
he had seen and known of the
religious
all
conditions of the nations, and
by
that he
and moral had ex
The perienced in his apostolic travels and labours. passage has also the great additional value of being a
comparison of his own observations and experiences with Both parties had been those of his Corinthian disciples.
eye-witnesses of the situation of matters before the Gospel began to be published, and since and here we have the
result
both parties
which was forced by the demonstration of facts upon alike, viz., that the religion which had wrought
the great changes of character and life which as a matter of fact were plain and undeniable, was the wisdom oi
God, and not the wisdom of man
the truth
and
revela-
32
the
Early
Epistles
tion of God,
and not the speculation or invention of man. the Apostle so eloquently puts it, Eye of man had never seen, ear of man had never heard, nor had it ever entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which
As
"
God
His
it
the Gospel
Spirit.
hath prepared for them that love Him," the things of but God hath revealed them to the Church by ;
This wisdom
in a
is
from above.
It
could not be
Jewish wisdom
new
form, for to the
Jews as a nation
Greeks
was a stumbling-block.
into a
And
it
could not be Greek

for to the
wisdom brought
!
new connexion,
the preaching of Christ crucified was utter foolishness. No it was a new thing in the earth, it was a new crea
tion in the sphere of religion
starting-point
life
and morals.
It
and beginning
in the religious
was a new and ethical
of the world.
drawing nothing from
could only have sprung out of the life-power of Almighty God. Such a new starting-point for the world, which owed none of its
And such a new man himself,
creation for
man,
impulses to the world itself, could only have received its impulse from a Supreme hand from Him who, without
Beginning Himself,
is
the providential
Beginner of all the grand towards light and goodness.
and beneficent movements of the world
To
point.
bring
now this
We
section of the argument to a distinct have here the joint testimony of St. Paul and
the Corinthian Christians to the supernatural origin of the Gospel of Christ, as proved by the mighty influences
of a religious and moral kind which they had seen
it
Is their testimony valid ? Ought it to have produce. to with us ? it have more Ought weight weight with us than the opinions of the unbelievers and disbelievers of
of
this
St.
Paul viewed
as Historical Documents.
133
common
nineteenth century? I think in all justice and in all The conviction of the first sense it ought.
on this subject rested upon observation and experience and these not other men s, but their own. The disbelief of the present age rests on mere specula tion and foregone philosophical conclusions. An abstract alleged axiom of philosophy lies at the base of it, viz., that the supernatural is impossible, and that therefore there was and there could be nothing supernatural either
Christians
in
the
effects
produced
by
Christianity in the
first
age, or
itself.
in
the
substance and origin of
Christianity
But such an
It
axiom
as
this
is
anything but
axiomatic.
and it never has and never can be.

its
needs to be proved before it is applied, been proved, and never will be,
Call in question the axiom, and all a priori applications to theological controversy become
I prefer the practical reasoning inept and null at once. of St. Paul and his converts and many thousands
"
We
more,"
it
said they, "find ourselves new creatures in Christ; was the Gospel of Christ that did this for us and
nothing else ; it is more than the wisdom of the world ever did for us or could do ; it is more than ever we were able
do for ourselves. He who did it for us by His Gospel must be greater and mightier than men. He must be what we call Him, the Son of God with power; and
to
His Gospel the rod of His power, the arm of His strength, must be like himself, Divine." It is a plain,
It may not sound practical kind of reasoning, I admit. in some ears very philosophic, but it has the ring none
the less of sound
common
sense
and we should remem
ber that, after
all,
the philosophy of
common
sense, the
34
the
Early Epistles
philosophy of observation and experience is acknow ledged by philosophers themselves to be the wisest and
safest
and most
fruitful
of
all
philosophies.
point out to you a third and a fourth link of evidence supplied by these early Epistles, and bearing specially on the point of the Divine presence and
Let
me now
power which accompanied the preaching of the Gospel in If this was a reality, it was the hands of the Apostles.
Do these Epistles supernatural element. contribute anything to prove that it was a real historical First, listen to the convictions of thing ? Let us see.
of course a
St.
Paul himself upon the point
a point on which, more
than any other
man
in the world, he
was
entitled to
speak with authority and weight, as it so closely con cerned the one great work of his whole life, and pene
trated to the very core of
let it
its meaning and force. And be carefully observed, as before that in the passage now to read from him he is not dogmatizing, not
s
:
am
laying down a doctrine or article of faith he is recalling the circumstances of his first visit to Corinth; he is referring to personal facts and incidents and conditions
of that
visit
well as himself.
of which the Corinthians were cognizant as The passage is a bit of St. Paul s auto
a bit of early Church history, not of early
"
biography
Church dogma, (i Cor. ii. i, 4). And I, brethren, when I came to yon, came declaring unto you the testimony of God; not with excellency of speech or ofwisdom, for I deter mined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ
crucified ; and I was with you in weakness and and in much trembling; and my speeeh and my preaching was not with persuasive words of man s wisdom^
and
Him
in fear
of
St.
Paul viewed as
135
but with demonstration of the. Spirit and of power ; to the end that your faith might not stand in the wisdom of men,
That is to say, as he came to but in the power of God" to Corinth publish solely a Divine message and not a
human
one, so his sole confidence for the effect of his

it
publication of
was confidence not in
his
own power
or
persuasiveness as a preacher, for he felt nothing but weak ness, but in the power of that God whom he served,
in
the
demonstration
If
and
manifestation
of
"the
Spirit." they received his message, their faith was to stand or rest not in any manifestation of the
power of man, but only in the manifested power of God. They were to be, as he says in another place, God s own husbandry, not his. It was the presence and power of God s Spirit that was to work their conversion in Christ, and to make them new creatures in Christ. That, he tells them, was his working programme when he first came among them ; and what was the upshot of his work so projected and planned ? It had been an im mense success. The power of God had been demon
"
strated
"
among them
;
as he
the increase
for neither is
neither he that
watereth
God gave he that planteth anything ; but God that giveth the in
had expected.
"
crease
everything in this work, He is all in all. But here I shall suppose that you stand in doubt of the
"
He
is
reality
power accompanying the being an invisible and impalpable power, working unseen in men s minds, if working at all, and not manifesting its presence and I do not force in any undeniable way to the senses.
supernatural
of this
Gospel on the ground of
its
sympathise
much
with such a doubt, resting upon such a
136
the
Early Epistles
ground, because surely revolutions of character and life and conduct in men are effects of power palpable enough even to men s senses. But Jet that pass, and
me call your attention to two remarkable facts preserved to us by these Epistles to the Corinthians, which prove in the most unanswerable manner that a
rather let
supernatural presence and power were then at work in Corinth in the most palpable forms possible, and with effects and manifestations of a kind which might even be
called
sensational.
And
these
two
facts are
the two
additional links of proof to which I referred. (2 Cor, xii. 12.) "Truly the signs of an Apostle were
wrought among you in

ders,
all patience, in
signs
is it
and won
wherein
it
and
mighty
deeds.
to
For what
Churches
to
?
ye
that
this
were inferior
other
Except
"
be
myself was not burdensome
means kind he means palpable mighty deeds," only to be nature and the common order of the wrought upon world by a power above nature herself. Yes and he refers to them as having taken place before the eyes of the Corinthians themselves as things which they knew to have taken place, and were as certain of having seen, as he was himself. Could he have written in that manner to them, about miracles done among them, if no such miracles had ever been done ? Could he have appealed to these miracles as signs of his Apostleship, if they had been all myths and unrealities Could he have so in a to them where he is finding grave context, appealed
"
wrong"
He
plainly
you. miracles
Forgive me of the most
"
fault with the
Corinthians, where he is remonstrating with them for giving too much countenance to men whom
of
St.
Paul
^viewed as Historical Documents.
37
he characterises as
false Apostles,
selves into Apostles of Christ?
He
transforming them points to those
own Apostleship, as vouchers He is a true and a false Apostleship. not being in the with he is them the Corinthians, arguing putting
miracles as the seals of his
its
of
wrong; he upon them.

that he
is
is
pressing
it is
his controversy
closely
home
And
in such a
"
connexion and discourse
Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought amongyou" This could only be the boldness of conscious truth. This was an appeal which he well
bold to say,
knew
seen
he.
it
was impossible
for
them
to resist.
They had
"the
mighty deeds" of God in Corinth as well as They were God s witnesses to them as well as he.
other fact referred to
is
The
the remaining link of the
the remarkable one so fully set out in the twelfth chapter of i Corinthians, a chapter too long to be
argument
quoted in full here, touching the spiritual gifts of that the manifestation of the Spirit, church, which he calls
"
"
"
given to every
man
to profit
withal."
"For
to
one
is
given by the Spirit the
word of wisdom,
to
another the
word
of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing, to another the working of miracles, to
another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues.
But all these worketh the one and self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He willeth" Here, verily, was
a demonstration of the Spirit of
the most manifold and
God and
of power in
If gifts like palpable forms. these did not and could not manifest a supernatural presence and working, I know not what could manifest
them.
And
there was an indubitable
and indisputable
!^8
reality
The Evidential Value

in the
of the If I
Early Epistles
whole matter.
St.
am
sure
that
this
and was addressed to the hands of the Corinthian Christians and I may be as sure of these facts as of the genuineness and the I may be also date of any letter of Cicero or Pliny
letter is
from the hand of
Paul,
equally sure that the things which he refers to in these extraordinary terms were real things and no de lusions. For he speaks of things of which he claims
to have himself large experience.
"
thank
my
God,"
he exclaims
(i
Cor. xiv.
more than you
all."
speak with tongues Could he be under a delusion as to

18),
the reality of a supernatural endowment possessed by himself in so high a degree ? or could he have expected the Corinthians to believe at his suggestion that
had been endowed with it too, if they had had no knowledge and experience of the fact them the exact contrary to selves, if they had known
they
be
the
of
fact?
am
compelled by the inexorable

to
logic
common
sense
believe
that
these
gifts
of the Spirit were facts of the church-life of Corinth; and the inexorable logic of the facts themselves compels
me
and confess that God was in the midst of them of a truth." It was for the sake of this inexorable
to believe
"
logic of facts that the facts were brought to pass; signs to the unbelievers/ they were meant to be We know that they to heal them of their unbelief.
"
answered that
purpose
then
(i
Cor.
xiv.
24,
25)
and such a genuine contemporary original record of them as we have here handed down to us, is well fitted I know, of to answer the same evidential purpose still.
course, the difficulties which
it is
possible to raise
upon
of
St.
Paul viewed as
139
have nowhere
the collateral points of a subject like this, of which we in the New Testament an exhaustive
account, and of which But rience ourselves.

points
we have had no
the
difficulties
personal expe
upon
collateral
attaching to facts are no disproof of the facts themselves, when the facts are strongly attested and
vouched.
know
also
how
easy
it is
for
men
to ride off
from this whole contemptuous manner upon the allegation that both St. Paul and his Corinthian converts must have been in a frenzy of enthusiasm, or had fallen into a fit of religious madness. But St. Paul might well have replied at the bar of modern disbelief in the memorable words which he used at the bar of
subject in a
Festus
truth
"
am
not mad, but speak forth the words of
Yes, his soberness of mind on this his truthfulness and accuracy for vouches subject very upon it. He writes upon the whole matter, supernatural
and
soberness."
as
it
was, like a
lated
mind
"
like
man of sense and of a well-regu man whose judgment was as sound

his personal
Church,"
and enlightened as
culous.
"
endowments were mira

(i
In the
he writes
Cor. xiv. 19),
had rather speak
five
words with
also,
that I
in
might teach others

but
in
like
understanding than ten thousand words
my
an unknown tongue.
Brethren, be not children in

Is understanding be men." a man of sense? Is that
understanding, not that spoken

the
language
of his
and
bearing
of
heated
enthusiast,
proud
own imaginary endowments, dazzled by

clear-seeing,
them beyond the power of exaggerating and extolling

this
their
value?
all
and wildly Does not

friends
at
great teacher,
who
desires
his
140
Tht Evidential Value of the Early Epistles
Corinth to be
begin by
men and
showing that he
not children in understanding, was such a man himself?
no childish dreamer deluding himself with fond fables and conceits, but a manly thinker with senses well trained and exercised to discern good and evil, truth and error, fact and fable, history and myth, reality and
seeming.
Here my present argument must end. But before I quite close this address, will you allow me to throw out
one or two suggestions arising naturally from my subject? with the view of correcting one or two very common
misapprehensions which, for anything I know, this moment be influencing some of yourselves.
may
at
how the early Church of Christ was in the world before any part of the and rooted planted New Testament collection was written at all. The Churches of Galatia, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Rome,
You
see here
were
all
gathered to Christ before the Epistles to these

Epistles
Churches were written, and these

seen, are the oldest writings in
It is
we have
the
New Testament
foolish
then for
faults
with the
New
men to think that by picking Testament here and there they can
rid themselves
existed
and
of Christianity altogether. Christianity flourished both in Asia and Europe before
any part of the
New Testament came into existence. The
Gospel of Christ was a spoken and victorious Gospel be fore it was a written one, and if it was true and triumphant
even as a spoken Gospel
triumph
at
still.
it
must be true and worthy to
Again,
if
you admit,
early
as
you cannot help doing, that

of
St.
least these
Epistles
Paul are genuine
of
St.
Paid viewed as
141
historical
rid of their historical truth
that you get by denying their Divine in I shall suppose that you do not agree with spiration. the Church of Christ upon that matter of inspiration. You think you see many strong objections against such a claim. You think you can break it down by no end of arguments. Very well, but remember that you have here the earliest historical documents of Christianity be and these of undoubted genuineness, and of fore you historic and you have no warrant to neglect high validity or ignore these documents for the uses of history, merely because you do not take them to be inspired. You ac cept innumerable things of the past as true and important upon the credit of ancient or modern histories though these had no claim to be given by inspiration of God. Well, then, act in the same way by these early Epistles of
St. Paul. To begin with, distinguish between the truth of ancient facts of Christian history and the alleged inspira
documents, do not imagine
tion of the
documents which record and

first, if
establish them.
Convince yourselves
you
are able, of the truth of
the facts contained in the documents viewed simply as materials of history. Afterwards it will be time enough
for
you to take up and
settle
the ulterior question of their
If Christianity, as we have Divine quality and authority. seen, might have been true and triumphant without a
book of the New Testament being written, it might have been equally so without a single book of the New Testament being inspired.
single
Last of
all, let
me
priori objection to everything that can
suppose that you have one grand a be said about

viz.
supernatural truths, facts, writings, and personages,
142
that
the
Early Epistles
you see no sufficient reason to think that there is any supernatural being or power in the universe at all, anything above nature, or distinct from it, or able to
interfere with
it,
or either to order
it
or to dislocate
its
order.
Well
that there
but I do not suppose you undertake to prove is no God. That were a Quixotic undertaking.
All you mean to say is that as yet you have seen no suffi If so, cient proof of God s Being and Power and agency. it is more proof which you are in quest of or should be.
If so, I think such historical documents as those we have been speaking of to-night have something to say upon I do not see how the supernatural that grand question. facts there vouched for are to be got rid of by the bare
assertion
nature.
that
there
is
That seems
to
me
nothing in the universe above to be a mere begging of the
You say you are without evidence enough to question. there is any God at all. I reply, and am en that prove
titled to
reply,
Well
here at least
is
some
relevant evi
dence of a
there
historical
!
kind applicable to the question.
Nay, I reply, not impos enough that there may be facts of history which admit of no other explanation than by referring them to supernatural Being and Power, and the facts vouched by these earliest of all the Christian documents appear to me to be of that kind. It is no argument to deny and exclude all supernatural solutions
in history.
sible.
Impossible is a
you
urge, there is nothing to prove that
God
It is possible
a priori.
sense,
You
are
bound by good
logic
and by common
to try whether any naturalistic solution of these facts can be found that will bear a searching critifirst,
of
St.
143
cism, and failing any such, to admit that here at least you have come upon some facts which multitudes not only
of intelligent but learned

natural sense,
for
men have
interpreted in a super
and which cannot be explained or accounted satisfactorily in any other way.
If the facts of nature are at least relevant materials in
arguing the question of God s Being and Work, I do not see why facts of history thoroughly well attested should not be relevant materials also. We have come, I
am
persuaded, upon some such materials of history to night, and I commend them to the serious thoughts of
any among you who are still debating with yourselves the most fundamental of all questions of Being and Power.
LORD LYTTLETON ON THE CONVERSION

OF
ST.
PAUL.
BY THE
REV.
JOHN GRITTON.
on
>t.
f ani.
THE EVIDENTIAL FORCE OF THE CONVER SION OF THE APOSTLE PAUL.

reason of the endless variety in the minds of men as endless possibly as the varieties of human
BY
or
sively
countenances
the same argument will become weighty weak according to the person to whom it is addressed, and a kind of evidence which affects one person conclu
may
fail
to influence another person in
even the
slightest degree.
But underlying
this variety there is
an
as to its nature and its capacity for uniformity of mind for being influenced by evidence which encourages men
to seek in
one way or another, by
this or that
process,
to influence their fellows towards the acceptance of

liefs
be
which they themselves have adopted.

this uniformity,
In conse
quence of
believer
is
and
of this variety, the Christian
led to present evidences to the minds of nonbelievers, and is induced to present many kinds of evi
dence, and to place the points of evidence in varying
proportion and relation, hoping that some kind of evi dence, or various evidential elements in varying relations,
148
Lord
Lyttleton on St. Paul,
may
Christian system
fullest credit.
beget in the hearer s mind the conviction that the. is Divine in its origin and worthy of the
are so constituted or are so trained, that itself forcibly, and they are
Some minds
if
one
line of
evidence presents
able
to grasp it as conclusive, they are never again troubled by difficulties which affect only other lines of evidence. But minds of a different type or habit can
never be satisfied by one strong line of argument on a given subject, while objections lie against some other kind of evidence by which also the subject may be exhibited or proved. Here is a Let us illustrate this difference.
man who
has been persuaded that Christianity is from God, and that the Books of the Old and New Covenant in which that system is contained are given by inspira
tion of
God.
He
has attained to that conviction, so far
as mental exercise
is concerned, by observing that in revealed religion there is a wonderful likeness to many things in the order of nature, and by inferring from this
likeness that both
come from the same hand and have been fashioned by the same wisdom, prevision, and power; or conviction may have resulted from -observing the
wonderful uniqueness, originality and verisimilitude in the character of Jesus Christ of Nazareth; or the argument
from prophecy
may have
established his confidence in

:
the verity of the Bible as the Word of God .at all events in some way or other he has arrived at that conviction.
I? the course of after investigation he finds himself face to face with difficulties such as those which exist or seem
to exist in reconciling the Mosaic
logical fact or geological
theory,
cosmogony with geo but he will never be
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul.
149
shaken or troubled in mind by such difficulties, knowing tnat the Book is true whatever may be the case as to
geology ; and concluding that if the fact in nature fall not in with the apparent statement of the Bible, it is not the
Book but
and
all
the interpretation of the
that
if
the statement in the
Book which is faulty, Book is absolutely con
tradictory of the supposed fact in science the fact is after In the same way he deals but a theory miscalled.
consciously or
unconsciously with biblical
difficulties
He has touching on arithmetic, or ethnology, or morals. settled the verity of the Book on one clear line of argu ment, and he considers that his partial knowledge of the whole field in debate fully justifies him in waiting and
expecting the solution of difficulties. Let us take the case of a man who
other habit of
is
the type of the
mind
to
which reference has been made.
He
has concluded from prophecy or miracles, or the cha
racter of Jesus, or the general concensus of differing lines
of evidence, that the Bible is of God and that therefore But he too meets with difficulties, Christianity is Divine.
numerical, moral, scientific or historical, and they have so much effect on him that he never quite rests in his
there are these difficulties
conviction of the truth and certainty of the Bible because ; and, even when with increas
ing knowledge he
is conscious that the difficulty of yes terday is no difficulty now, he still never learns to con clude that remaining difficulties will disappear before the
brighter light of advancing study. Under these varying circumstances the Christian advo cate will learn to deal with
in
many
will
lines of
evidence and
at
many
different ways.
He
endeavour
one time
!ijo
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul.
to present a general view of testimony, and at another will confine himself to some specific and limited line of
To-day he will endeavour to place the enquirer where he may obtain a coup d ceil of evidence which, how ever, from its very breadth and fulness will be lacking in To-morrow he will place the definition and sharpness.
thought.
some one or some few see them only.

It is this latter
student at a selected point of view whence he will see objects with distinctness, but will
process to which
we
night.
line of enquiry
<l
ve
you by which one particular person was led to conclusion that Christianity is of God. There may
I wish to lay before
in a brief
give ourselves to way the special
be many in this assembly unwilling or even unable to see the full importance and force of the evidence which will be adduced, because pre-engaged with general scepticism or with some special objections ; but others may be here
who
will see in the
evidence adduced, the same force and

it
conclusiveness which
Lyttleton,
to
presented to the mind of Lord

I invite
whose process of investigation
you
to-night.
of whom we speak was an active of the reign of George the and statesman politician He was well acquainted with the world and at Second. the same time studious and reflective. As a poet he en Johnson s Lives." His joys the honour of a place in Dialogues of the Dead exhibits him as the thoughtful
The Lord Lyttleton
"
"
"
moralist, while his voluminous but
heavy
"History
of
Henry
fact
the
Second
"
testifies
to his ability to investigate
The period
and weigh evidence. in which he
lived
was not favourable to
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul.
151
Christian studies or to godly living.

in sentiment,
General scepticism
and abounding profligacy in life marked the whole period in which Lord Lyttleton lived and acted, and he did not escape unscathed in the furnace of evil in which he lived. Johnson who sketches his life testifies
He had, in the pride of youthful confidence, with the help of corrupt conversation, entertained doubts of Chris and it was not till he was nearly forty years of age tianity,"
"
that he
of which Johnson writes, ended in conviction/
was led into that course of reading and reflection His studies, being honest,
"
We
which
do not know with certainty what were the

first
facts
arrested his attention, or the arguments which

his scepticism
;
overcame
his after
but
we do know from
his
own
writings that
life
he regarded the conversion of St. Paul, and as an Apostle, taken in connexion with his
undisputed writings, as containing on one single and limited line of evidence a force and conclusiveness suf
ficient to
"
convince an honest enquirer,
or, to
use his
own
I thought the conversion and Apostleship of St. words, Paul alone, duly considered, was of itself a demonstration
prove Christianity to be a Divine revelation." appears that in a conversation with Gilbert West, the author of an invaluable Monograph on the Resurrection of
sufficient to
It
Jesus Christ, Lord Lyttleton had expressed his opinion as
given above, and that at his friend s request he engaged to reduce to writing the argument which seemed to his own mind so convincing. This engagement he observed, and
sent to his friend his
"
Observations on the Conversion
and Apostleship of St.
Paul."
Before I proceed to sketch the argument of his letter
iij2
Lord
Lyttleton on St. Paul.
would remark that it has now been before the world for a hundred and seventeen years, and that while particular expressions and conclusions here and there have been
I
questioned,
no opponent of
It will
Christianity has ever written

that,
a reply to
it.
be well also to notice
although
Lord Lyttleton wrote before the
birth of the
modern
school of scientific criticism of the books of the Bible, he

takes for granted only such points as are at the present time regarded as established by the more recent sceptical
writers.
He
postulates nothing
Strauss admits,
and which Renan

I
beyond the points which in his more recent work

facts.
takes as certain.
speak of admitted
offer varying
Strauss,
Paulus, and Renan
and contradictory ex
planations of the facts, and they differ as to the actuality of certain things lying outside the facts which are taken
"
for granted in the
"
Observations
but, with
Lord
Lyttle
ton, they
admit the existence of Saul of Tarsus
his
emin
ent acquaintance with Judaism and addiction to its most severe form, that of Pharisaic scrupulosity. They admit
persecution of the followers of the Crucified his journey to Damascus with authority from the Jewish Chief
his
Priests to bind the followers of Jesus

in that city
;
whom
he might find
and they also admit that from some cause^ or other this red-handed opponent became a preacher of the faith which before he hated, and a companion and fellow worker with those whom he had sought to destroy. They in his after life which regard as actual events the incidents are contained in the book of the Acts of the Apostles,
which history even Renan ascribes to a date not later than A.D. 80 ; and finally they assert the authenticity ot those Epistles to which Lord Lyttleton turns for evidenc
Lord
and
illustration,
153
admitting that some of those letters were
written
by Paul at least as early as the year A.D. 58. Thus the most destructive schemes of criticism which were ever applied to the books of Scripture have, by a process of mutual destruction and antagonistical admission, left a residuum of confessed fact, which contains all that
is
necessary for the validity of the argument of the
"
Ob
servations."
I now proceed to lay the argument before you, not nt the fulness of detail given by Lord Lyttleton, but with sufficient fulness and accuracy to convey the general re
sults at
which he
arrives.
we have to do is thus narrated by Paul himself at Csesarea in the presence of Festus the Roman Governor, and Agrippa a Jewish King, and before many of his enemies who knew his history and were ready
event with which
to detect
"
The
any error or falsehood in
his statement
My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the
;
hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God
:
day and
it
night,
I
hope to come
for
which hope
sake,
King Agrippa,
raise the
am
accused of the Jews.
Why
should
be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should dead ? I verily thought with myself, that I
ought to do
of Nazareth.
many things contrary Which thing I also
to the
name
of Jesus
:
did in Jerusalem
and
re-
many
of the saints did I shut up in prison, having
154
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul*
were put to death

I
ceived authority from the chief priests ; and when they I gave my voice against them. And
every synagogue, and compelled and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Where upon as I went to Damascus with authority and com mission from the chief priests, at mid -day, O King, I
oft in
;
punished them
to
them
blaspheme
in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the
earth, I
saw
the
Hebrew
It is
heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
art thou,
me ?
I said,
And
Jesus
Who
Lord
And He
rise,
said, I
am
whom
feet
:
thou persecutest.
for I
But
and stand upon thy
have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things
will
which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I appear unto thee ; delivering thee from the people,
and from the
Gentiles, unto
whom now
send thee, to
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
among them
Whereupon, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at vision Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." (Acts xxvi.
420.) On another occasion,
defending himself before the Jews
Lord
Lyttleton on St.
PauL
155
In Jerusalem he gives in substance the same statement but adds other particulars
:
"
And
I said,
What
shall I do,
said unto me, Arise

shall
and go
into
Lord? And the Lord Damascus and there it

\
be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of
that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout
man
according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of
our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the
voice of His mouth.
all
For thou
men
of what thou hast seen
tarriest
thou
Arise,
shalt be His witness unto and heard. And now why and be baptized, and wash away
Lord."
thy 10
sins, calling
on the name of the
(Acts
xxii.
16.)
The same
convert,
historian
who
records these statements of the

in
and was himself a companion of Paul
much
of ministry, narrates the incident in another chapter of the book of the Acts, mentioning other cir cumstances besides those recounted by Paul in his apolo of his
life
gies before his
enemies
as that Saul in a vision
saw
Ananias before he came to him, coining in and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. And that when Ananias had spoken to him, immediately
"
there
1
fell
8.)
from his eyes as it had been scales." (Acts ix. 12 All these statements are in the book of the Acts of
Statements
the Apostles.
made by Paul
in letters
which
$6
Lord
he addressed to various Churches and persons are agreeable to them, and they occur in letters of which Lord Lyttle
ton says their authenticity
"
cannot be doubted without
overturning all rules by which the authority and genuine ness of any writings can be proved or confirmed," and which since the writing of the Observations have been
"
"
subjected to the test of

Paulus, Strauss,
test
all
hands of modern Renan and others, and have stood that

criticism in the
beyond
question.
Writing
to
the
Christian
"
Churches which he had founded
in Galatia,
Paul says,
certify you brethren that the Gospel which was preached For I neither received it of man, of me is not after man.
neither was I taught

Christ.
past in
it, but by the revelation of Jesus For ye have heard of my conversation in time the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I
persecuted the Church of God, and wasted
it
But
when
it
pleased God,
called
who
separated
me
from
my mother s
womb, and
diately I
me by
His grace, to reveal His Son in
me, that I might preach

ii
the heathen, imme conferred not with flesh and blood. (Gal. i.
3
"
Him among
16.)
If any other man Philippians he writes, thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
To
the
more
Israel,
of the tribe
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the
as touching the law, a Pharisee ; concerning ; But what things persecuting the Church: were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. (Philipp.
Hebrews
zeal,
iii.
4-7-)
In a
letter to
and a fellow-labourer
Timothy, who was one of his converts in the Gospel, he writes, I thank
"
Lord .Lyttleton on
Christ Jesus, our Lord,
St.
Paid.
157
for that
;
who hath enabled me,

putting
He
counted
me
faithful,
me
into the ministry
who was
jurious."
before a blasphemer,
(i
and a
persecutor,
and
in
Tim.
i.
12-13.)
Elsewhere he
God, by the
An apostle by the will commandment of God our Saviour, and

calls
himself
"
of
an
apostle, not of
men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead," Gal. i. i.) and con (2 Cor. i. i ; Col. i. i j i Tim. i. i
;
cerning Jesus Christ, he asserts in a letter to Corinth, Last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out
"
of due
time."
(i Cor. xv. 8.)
in public apologies
made to his enemies and his friends and private letters, to Churches which he had gathered and to friends who were fellow workers. These assertions were made before and to those who had the best means for ascertaining their truth or falsehood.
Here
are assertions
They were made in the emotion of public debate and ID the quiet hours of imprisonment. They were not dis proved then. They have never been disproved since.
What
torian
is
the great point which they

"
all
include ? If words
have any meaning, Paul asserts
and the his Luke asserts for him, a miraculous call which made him an apostle." In that call we have the beginning of a life of ministry lasting for, certainly, more than thirty years, during which period it may be followed in the book of the Acts, and
for himself,
letters
by the light of the information which he wrote.
contained
in
many
The account which

matter
is
Christian believers
true,
give of the
that
it
was
true,
not only in the incidents
158
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul.
which even sceptical criticism admits, but true also in the

miraculous element, in the revelation of Jesus Christ, the manifested glory of God the voice from the brightness
the conversation between the prostrate persecutor and the vision of the exalted Jesus the sudden blindness
Ananias
the message from
God
and the instantaneous
recovery of sight.
But believers know that there are many persons who do not admit this, and who endeavour to account for the admitted facts of the case on one assumption or another
which excludes the miraculous elements.
Lord Lyttleton enumerates three suppositions which

possibly be made to account for the facts of the case without admitting the miraculous element, and we may feel secure in saying that no other solution is pos
may
sible.
"
Our author thus
states the case
must of necessity be that the person asserting these things of himself, and of whom they are related in so authentic a manner, either was an impostor who said what he knew to be false with an intent to deceive ; or he was an enthusiast, who by the force of an over heated
It
imagination imposed on himself; or he was deceived by the fraud of others, and all that he said must be imputed
to the
power of
this deceit
or what he declared to be
the cause of his conversion,
and
to have
happened
in
consequence of
it,
did
all
really
happen, and therefore
the Christian religion is a Divine revelation." Tlw three first of these suppositions are those which
we
have to examine.
If they
fail I
shall
be
fully justified in
accepting the fourth, unless my hearers will suggest some other solution not covered by these, a task to which I
Lord
Lyttleton on St. Raul.
159
seriously invite them, and which they will have to per form, or be led to the conclusion that Paul s conversion
was miraculous ; and, in connexion with the events which followed, is a sufficient evidence that the Christian
religion
is
from God.
First then
we have
is
to
imposture, that
raises
to say that Paul said
examine the assumption of what he knew
not to be true with intent to deceive.
two
difficulties, for
it
This assumption cannot be shown either that
he could have any rational motives to undertake such an imposture, or that he could possibly have carried it on
with any success by the means
we know him
to
have
employed.
search for motives to such an imposture, we one of two either the hope of advancing up himself in his temporal interests, credit or power or the
are shut
to
;
When we
gratification of
some of his passions under the authority of it by the means it afforded. What hope of temporal interest had Saul the Perse cutor when he became Paul the Apostle ? Jesus had been crucified as an impostor and blasphemer ; and by that crucifixion the Jewish conviction that He was not their promised Messiah and King had been confirmed. His disciples indeed asserted that He was risen from the dead, and confirmed or seemed to confirm their state ment by miracles ; but the Jewish rulers were not con vinced, and by imprisonment, beating and persecution
unto death manifested their implacable rage against the Paul concurred in these cruelties, voted for believers.
the death of the Christians in judicial assemblies, aided at their martyrdom, and in the intensity of his zeal perse-
160
cutes
Lord
them
to strange cities, going with authority
and
commission to Damascus, to hale them to prison and death. Then it was and under those circumstances that Paul became a Christian. What wealth could he antici
pate
?
All wealth
and the power of conferring wealth
were with the party he left. Those whom he joined were indigent men, oppressed and kept down from all
means of improving
their fortune.
Some few
disciples
were better provided than others and aided the poorer, but during the lifetime of Paul, the whole community
of
were not more than barely supplied with the necessaries life, and Paul so far from availing himself of their
veneration for him to secure wealth, refused oftentimes, even in the Churches he had founded, to accept ought at
their hands.
statements
Of this abundant evidence exists in his own made to the various Churches. Thus he
writes twenty-four years after his conversion in a letter to
Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no thirst, certain dwelling-place and labour, working with our own
"
Corinth,
and
hands."
(i
Cor.
iv.
u,
12.)
A
"
writes again to Corinth thus, to
I will
year later in A. D. 60, he not be burdensome

you."
you
for I seek not yours,
but
(2 Cor.
xii.
14.)
Appealing to the Christians in Thessalonica, at a some what earlier date, he says, Neither at any time used
"
we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousFor ye remember brethren, ness; God is witness our labours and travail, for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of you, we
preached unto you the Gospel of
God."
(i
Thess.
ii.
5, 9.)
And
face
to
face with the
ministers of the Ephesian
Lord Lyttkton on
Church, he thus appeals to them
St.
Paul.
"
have coveted no
man s
silver,
or gold, or apparel.
Yea, ye yourselves
know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessi ties, and to them that were with me." (Acts xx. 33, 34.) It is clear then that neither could Paul have anticipated
wealth as the reward of submission to the Gospel, nor did he care to take even such support and emolument as the
poor Christians might have been able to confer on him. The hope of fortune would have bound him to the Jewish rulers. When he broke with them he faced and he found
poverty.
But perhaps contemning wealth he was animated by

the prospects of credit or reputation. That also rested with those whom he left. The sect he embraced was
"
under the greatest and most universal contempt of any

then in the
world."
What
gain
come
to the disciple of Gamaliel,
of reputation could the member for the
Sanhedrim, the trusted ambassador of the rulers of the people, by joining himself to a party without birth, edu
cation or rank
whose works were attributed to imposture
or magic, whose founder had died a felon s death, and whose central and fundamental preaching, Christ crucified,
was to the Jew a stumbling block, and

foolishness?
(i
to the
Greek
Cor.
i.
23.)
Experience did but confirm
of shame and reproach. a century after the vision at Damascus, he wrote to the Corinthians. We are made as the filth of
his necessary anticipation
quarter ot
"
the world
of
all
the offscouring (TrepucaOapfia-ra refuse offal), things unto this day." (i Cor. iv. 13.) Very cer
tainly the
bubble reputation could neither have lured

I T
him nor rewarded him.
162
Lord
Lyttleton on St.
Paul
But perhaps it was the love of power that "infirmity of noble minds!" "Power? Over whom? Over a
whose Shepherd Himself had been murdered a little before What power could he dare to hope for which would be of any avail against the power, now energized and sharpened by hatred to one who had forsaken and betrayed them, which was on the side of those he left ? Nor will his after life
flock of sheep driven to the slaughter,
!"
and teaching shew that he sought or regarded power. He affected no superiority over the other Apostles. He termed himself "the least of them," (i Cor. xv. 9), and "less than the least of all saints," (Ephs. iii. 8). Did he try
to
Hear
form a party for himself or to elevate himself to primacy? his appeal, was Paul crucified for you ? or were
"
ye baptized in the
name
of Paul
thank
God
that I
baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius ; lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name."
(i Cor.
i;
13
15.)
"Who
then
is
Paul,
and who
is
Apollos, but ministers by
whom
ye believed, even as the

"
Lord gave
to every
man
?"
(i Cor.
iii.
5.)
;
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord

"
For we preach and ourselves
your servants for Jesus sake." (2 Cor. iv. 5.) Moreover Paul affected no earthly power. He innovated nothing
in
lation,
government or civil affairs, he meddled not with legis he formed no commonwealths, he raised no sedi
"
tions."
Obedience to
rulers
;
to the
self
Churches he founded
was the doctrine he taught and what he taught he him
(Rom. xiii.) It is certain that his higher education and knowledge of the world and better birth, him gave opportunities for pre-eminence ; but it is not
practised."
less certain that
he made even
light of these
advantages
Lord
Lyttleton en St. Paul.
163
"
esteeming those with

labourers
"
"
whom
he was associated as
fellow-
ing,
and fellow-servants," and distinctly affirm came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
"
but determined to
Christ,
know nothing among

That your
you, save Jesus

faith
and
Him
crucified.
should not
God."
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
(i Cor. ii. i, 2, 5.) On the other hand, while the Gospel could not tempt Paul by promises of wealth or reputation, or power, and he found in effect that in serving Christ he embraced
poverty and shame, he did by the very fact of submitting himself to Jesus as Master and Lord put from him wealth
and reputation and power which were actually his in possession, or were the certain reward of continuance in
his course as
"
an opponent of the Gospel.

then,"
Upon
"
the whole
says
Lord
Lyttleton, at this
have proved that the desire of wealth, or fame, or power could be no motive to make St. Paul a convert to Christ ; but that on the contrary he must
point,
I think I
have been checked by that desire, as well as by the just apprehension of many inevitable and insupportable evils, from taking a part so contradictory to his past life, to all
the principles he
contracted."
had imbibed, and

said Paul
all
the habits he
had
But
it
may be
some
gratifying
irregular passion
was actuated by the desire of under cover of the
Christian religion, and by the means which it afforded. Undoubtedly such persons have been men who have desired to set themselves free from the restraints of gov ernment, law, and morality but there is nothing in the
teaching or in the
life
of the Apostle to give the slightest
164
Lord Lyttkton on
"
St.
Paul.
His writings breathe nothing strength to this objection. but the strictest morality, obedience to magistrates, order
and government, with the utmost abhorrence of all

tiousness,
idleness,
licen
or loose behaviour, under the cloak
of
As confessedly among the Jews, so among religion." the Christians his conversation and manners are blame
less. (See Rom. xi. and xiii.) It was no libertine who could appeal to those among whom he had lived, and whom he had won to the Gospel, Our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor of guile. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that be
"
Thes. ii. 3, 10.) "We have (i wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man." (2 Cor. vii. 2 ; see also 2 Cor. i. 12, and iv. 2.)
lieve."
Is
it
said that
all
this notwithstanding,
Paul might
have been an impostor
in that for the sake of
advancing
the morality of the Gospel he gave himself to pious frauds doing evil that he might promote good ? It is true
here also that some
men have
thus acted, as Lycurgus in
the case of the Spartans, or Numa in the case of the Romans, who lent themselves to superstitions which they
did not believe, that they might advance things which they held to be useful ; but let it be noted that neither
their superstition
secution
and enmity
nor their teaching brought on them per while in the case of Paul not only
:
was the morality he taught unpalateable, but the persecu tion he endured sprang from enmity to \hzfacts on which he based the morality. Nor must it be forgotten that he
of
"
whom
?
this supposition is
hinted wrote these words

evil, that
iii.
There are those who
say,
is
Let us do
just,"
good may
come
whose damnation
(Rom.
8.)
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul
165
We may
then safely conclude that no rational motive
existed which could impel Saul of Tarsus to become, as
an impostor, Paul the Apostle ; and if any motive existed to such a course it must have been simply capricious, as men sometimes act on absurd impulses, they know not
why.
But to
for
this the
answer
is
simple.
There
is
abso
lutely nothing in the
conduct or the writing of the Apostle

justify the
which can
moment
thought.
Nothing
capricious or unreasoning appears in the methods by which he promoted the Gospel. On the contrary his is a life
constantly guided by thoughtfulness, prudence tained purpose.
and
sus
But
should
if
any one,
in the face of evidence given thus far,
still
insist that
Paul was in his conversion an
impostor unmixed, or an impostor who was a strange specimen of a capricious fool to boot, let him consider
he could not possibly have carried on his impos ture to success by the means that we know he em
that
"
ployed."
He accepted an ex Paul did not found Christianity. draw and did not the doctrines he pro isting religion, He had not learned of claimed from his imagination. nor had he had connexion with the Apostles any Jesus,
How could he obtain a suffi knowledge of their teaching but by in He set up as an Apostle of their tercourse with them ?
except as their persecutor.
ciently accurate
but with such ignorance of the teaching of the other Apostles, that either they must have been forced to ruin his credit or he would have ruined theirs. They
faith,
could not but have detected the variance, in a thousand

points,
between
his fancies
and the teaching which they
66
Lord LyttUton on
St*
Paul*
had received from Jesus Himself.

in confederacy with the Apostles,
He must therefore act
not only to gain an accurate acquaintance with the Gospel, but also to learn the secret arts with which they beguiled men into the
common
tial
belief that they
worked miracles.
Now how did
he incline them to communicate with him on these essen

matters
?
brethren to the
By furiously persecuting them and their moment of his conversion ? This he did,
their capital
and then they immediately entrust

with
"
enemy
drawn by the most severe persecutions to say one word which would convict them of being impostors, confess themselves such
to their persecutor in
plice?"
the secrets of their imposture. Would men so secret, as not to be

all
hopes of
his being their
accom
Not
this only,
if
his
it
events connected with
conversion was unreal, and the non-existent, consider the risk of
exposure from those who journeyed with him employed with him by the Jewish rulers to extirpate Christianity and breathing his old temper of opposition to the faith
instructed
Again he was to be by one at Damascus, and the teacher and his and disciple met as absolute strangers each to the other this man, Ananias, who had goodly report of all the Jews who dwelt in Damascus," and an excellent character, must have been confederate with the impostor But on the supposition of imposture how in his guilt.
to
;
"
which he now addicted himself.
futile
this
once in the
connexion with Ananias, who appearing this affair is never heard of afterwards their
whole known intercourse having been private, and Ananias having knowledge of his own and Paul s dishonesty.
Lord Lyitkton on
St.
Paul*
167
But consider also how, some years afterwards, when pleading before Agrippa, in the presence of Festus, he was
bold enough to appeal to him upon his
own knowledge of
the truth of his story, and that in the presence of many only too ready and desirous of convicting him of false a very remarkable proof both of the hood and crime
"
notoriety of the facts,
and the
integrity of the
call
man, who
to
with so fearless a confidence could

give testimony for
upon a king
sitting in
him even while he was

as
judg
ment upon him." Then, inasmuch
an Apostle by the Apostles and bring them
he must secure his recognition as to admit him
into a participation of all their mysteries, doctrines,
and
designs, he was necessitated to court their society and win but this he did not do, for he went their good favour
:
to Damascus, did not away till after three years (Gal. i. 17-18.) ; and goto Jerusalem while on the supposition of imposture, the Apostles and Churches must have known how and when he gained his
to Arabia
and then, returning
knowledge of the Gospel, he ventured to assure the Galatians that he neither received his knowledge of men,
nor was he taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. Consider again how by rebuking his fellow (Gal. i. 12.)
buke
Apostle Peter openly at Antioch, and defending that re in his letter tp the Galatians (Gal. ii. 14.) he
incited Peter to reveal, in self-defence or in anger, any want of righteousness in himself. Accomplices in fraud
"
are obliged to
shew greater regards
to each other
such
freedom (of rebuke) belongs to truth alone." The supposition of imposture cannot be adequately judged unless it be also remembered that Paul was devoted
!68
Lord Lytthton on
St.
Paul.
mainly to the propagation of the Gospel among the Gentiles, in which enterprise he would have to contend
with four adverse influences against which the help and presence of God could help him, but against which, on
the supposition of imposture, he was utterly unprovided. He had to contend i. With the policy and power of the
:
magistrates.
2.
of the priests. the people. 4.

phers.
With the interests, credit, and craft 3. With the prejudices and passions of With the wisdom and pride of philoso
in the choice
Heathen magistrates permitted considerable laxity and worship of gods, but certainly did not
endure so exclusive a system as that of Christianity, which not only demanded a place and recognition, but asserted
itself as true,
and alone
true.
It did
not ask a nich in
the Pantheon, but set to work to rase the Pantheon with all its gods, and to erect on its ruins the temple of the
true
Judge then what chance of success Paul had at Ephesus, Corinth, and Athens, at all which places he founded Churches which presently after swept the idols
God.
altogether.
difficulty arising
away
who,
Consider also the
rinding their craft in danger,
from the priesthood could wield all the
power of the State for the repression of the teaching they These men might tolerate the easy atheistical abhorred. philosopher who would be content with theorizing against religion and yet maintain the popular religions but they would have no patience with as useful cheats the aggressive system which Paul propounded, which
;
endured no
rival
near
its
throne.
And
again consider the difficulties springing from
Lord
Lyttleton on St, Paul.
169
In Judea the prejudices and passions of the people. the voice of the people often restrained the violence
of the rulers in their opposition to Christianity ; but in the case of the Gentiles, intense and violent prejudices
existed in favour of the popular religions, and were more than ever intense when opposing anything taught by a Jew one of a nation on whom the then world looked
with unutterable scorn.

ideas
when he appealed
to the
Such an one carried only new Gentiles, and told them
that Jesus
Christ, they allowed
was the Christ of God. They expected no no such Scriptures as those to which
Paul made his appeal. They had to be taught the New Testament, but were ignorant of the book of the old covenant on which the Apostles turned for evidence when
common ground
There was not even the seeking to convince the Jew. of Monotheism on which Paul and the
Gentile populations could take their stand.
Thus he
must come before them with no

religious authority,
political, or social, or
and bid them surrender the

lower nature.
idolatry
which
gratified their tastes, ministered to their passions,
bade them forsake one invisible and sufferings of a crucified Jew" to their view such an one as a con demned criminal executed at Newgate would be to us. To these accumulated difficulties must be added those springing from the wisdom and pride of the philosophers. They had prejudices of their own still more repugnant to
satisfied their
and
He
these idolatries for the spiritual worship of God, and to accept salvation by the death
"
the doctrines of the Gospel than those of the vulgar, more deeply rooted, and more obstinately fixed in the mind.
The wisdom on which they prided themselves
"
their
iô
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
PauL
vain metaphysical speculations, their logical subtleties their high flown conceits of the their endless disputes
perfection
and
self-sufficiency of
human wisdom
their
dogmatical positiveness about doubtful opinion their sceptical doubts about the most clear and certain truths
"
made
the soil in which a
humble
stranger, a
despised
to
Jew, and
the seeds
in their eyes a contemptible apostate
had
of the doctrine of Christ.

to trust to but his
"
If St. Paul
sow had
had nothing
own
natural faculties, his
understanding, knowledge, and eloquence, could he have hoped to be, singly, a match for all theirs united
against
own
him ?
Could a teacher unheard of
before, from
an obscure and unlearned part of the world, have with

Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno, Carneades, and all the great names which held the first rank of human wisdom 1
stood the authority of Plato,
Arcesilaus,
"
Paul in his design of con or the Gentiles could were, be, adequate to the verting great difficulties he had to contend with, or to the suc
St.
From all this it may I human means employed by

"
think be concluded that no
cess that
we know attended
his
work ; and we can
in
reason ascribe that success to no other cause but the
power of God, going along with and aiding his ministry, because no other was equal to the effects." And on this follows the conclusion, that whatever Paul may have been besides, he was no impostor.
this point, they are yet unable to in the history of his con element miraculous the accept was version ; they fall back on the assumption that he
But while many yield
"
an
enthusiast,
who by
the force of an overheated imagi
nation imposed on
himself."
Probably
this
opinion will
Lord Lytiklon on
St,
Paul.
17
impose on men only so long as they rest in generals, and fancy to themselves an enthusiast who is void of the
constitute enthusiasm. The general as men use the of enthusiasm, word, are great ingredients heats of temper, melancholy, ignorance, credulity and
qualities
which
vanity, or self conceit.
But of
all
is
these one only, that of

to
a quick and
it
warm
disposition,
be found
in Paul as
in
was
in the Gracchi, in Cato, in Brutus,
and
many
of
the best and
wisest of men.
And
mind The
even
this
quality
never had such
command
of the
of Paul as to rule
best test
is
and darken
his understanding.
this,
that in things
where principle was not concerned, he

to
"become
was so easy as
(i
all
things to
all
men."
Cor.
ix.
20, 22.)
And
that in
moments of
the most
trying
and exciting character he manifested prudence, and had regard to the civilities and decorums of society, as appears clearly in his behaviour when defending him His was a zeal self before Agrippa, Felix, and Festus.
ever tempered by prudence. Where again is the proof that he was a sour, melan
life
choly enthusiast ? Remorse he felt indeed for his former as a persecutor, but it led him only to a new life of
unwearied and cheerful labour.
He inflicted on himself no gloomy penances or extravagant mortifications. His holiness was the simplicity of a good life and the industry
even pleading his Roman citizen avoid to ship being beaten, and at Athens he avoided the application of a capital law which forbad the intro
duction of a
of a devoted Apostle. he did not court them
He
bore sufferings cheerfully, but
new god by prudently
presence of an altar to the
Unknown God, and
laying hold on the thus con-
172
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul.
necting his teaching of the living and true God with a whom therefore ye recognised but unknown being
"
ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." (Acts xvii. and Josephus cont. Apion. Book II. Ch. 37.) Paul indeed desired depart and to be with Christ," which he knew to be better than his life of sorrow and suffering but he sought not to die, and was ready to remain with the Churches he had founded, because his presence and Willing to labour, leadership was an advantage to them. ready to rest, and impressing the same condition of mind on multitudes, he cannot in any fairness be called a
"to
melancholy enthusiast.
Again
rance
?
is
there proof that Paul
had the mark of igno
Hardly so when he was master of Jewish and Grecian learning, and in this respect commanded the enforced commendation of Festus, and on their own
ground could cope with the Athenians on Areopagus. Nor is credulity as distinguished from assent to truth on
was in fact done by the Saviour, the resurrection of Him who was crucified and even that buried, miracles wrought by Peter and John well known and much canvassed marvel the healing the
sufficient
evidence
observable in Paul.
He
slow and hard of
belief.
The
miracles
lame
man
at the Beautiful
had not persuaded him
to believe.
Gate of the Temple (Acts iii. ) Other miracles and

v.
several proclamations of the Gospel (Acts
18,32), with
the eloquent defence of Stephen before the council had left him to attend the left him untouched martyrdom ot
Stephen as consenting to his death (Acts

left
viii.
and
"
ix.)
him with
his zeal against Christ only embittered
and
so that he set forth to Damascus, deepened,
breathing
Lord Lyttkton on
St.
Paul,
^
"
out threatenings and slaughter" against the disciples. so that All evidence up to this point he had resisted,
his
mind
far
from being disposed to a credulous
faith,
or
a too easy reception of any miracle worked in proof of the Christian religion, appears to have been barred
against
it
any man s
by the most obstinate prejudices, as much as could possibly be and from hence we may
;
fairly conclude, that nothing less than the irresistible evidence of his own senses, clear from the possibility of
doubt, could have overcome his unbelief." But these points failing, may not the position and work
of Paul be accounted for by self-conceit, a quality which
often places men in extraordinary circumstances, and urges them to amazing doings ? With high conceits of their importance, such men may mistake the workings of
own folly as the will of God, and may persuade themselves that, as favourites of heaven, they are the Such were Montanus, recipients of Divine revelations.
their
Santa Theresa, Catharine of Sienna, Francis of Assisi, and
and sanctology of the But was Paul such an one, eaten up by self-conceit of knowledge, goodness and favour vain of personal gifts,higher genius, or Divine communications ? Listen to his words to the Ephesians, the Corinthians, and to his beloved fellow-worker Timothy. I who am
others famous in the martyrology
Romish Church.
"less
than the least of
all
saints."
the least of the Apostles, that
am
am (Eph. iii. 8.) not meet to be called

"I
an Apostle, because
(i Cor. xv. 9.)
"Jesus
persecuted the Church of God." Christ came into the world to

I
save sinners, of
*
whom
am
chief.
Howbeit
first
for this
cause I obtained mercy, that in
me
Jesus Christ
!74
Lord
might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting."
(i
Tim.
i.
15,
6.)
opposed
to this, saying,
Only once does he use language I was not a whit behind the
"
very chiefest Apostles." (2 Cor. xi. 5.) And then the very safety of the Corinthian Church their deliverance from false teachers necessitated a strong assertion of his
authority
among them
and even then he does
it
in such
a way that his veiy boasting becomes the most evident humility, and does in no wise counteract his deliberate
statements to the same Church. (Vide 2 Cor. xi. 16-19, 30 ; 2 Cor. xii. 2, 6, 7.) "Who then is Paul and who is
ye believed, even as the have planted, Apollos every So then neither God the increase. but watered, gave is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth,
Apollos, but ministers
to
by
whom
Lord gave
man?
but
God
I
that giveth the
"
increase."
By
the grace of
am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I laboured more abun
God
dantly than they
all
j
which was with

i
me."
yet not (2 Cor.

lastly, let
I,
but the grace of

1-5
;
God
5-7
;
xii.
Cor.
iii.
Cor. xv. 10.)
And
us listen to the lesson
which he laboured
I
to impress on his followers, exalting a self renouncing love above all other things.
"Though
speak with the tongues of

love, I
men and
I
of
angels and have not

brass or
gift
a tinkling cymbal. of prophecy, and understand
am become And though

all
as sounding
have the
knowledge ; and though I have all remove mountains, and have not
faith,
mysteries and all so that I could

I
love,
am
nothing.
And though
bestow
all
my
goods to feed the poor, and
Lord Lyttkton on
though I give
it
St.
Paul.
175
love,
my body
nothing."
to
be burned and have not
profiteth
me
(i Cor. xiii. 1-4.)
He who can
life
read this and trace the example which illustrates it in the of the Apostle, and yet attribute his conversion and
his Apostleship to self-conceit,
must
either mistake the
sense of words, or be very determined to bring the Since therefore we do not find in the Apostle in guilty.
writings or acts of Paul those characteristics
which mark
the hot headed enthusiast, we may conclude he was not such an one. But even did we find in him these quali
ties
of mere enthusiasm it can be proved, "That he could not possibly have imposed on himself by any power of enthusiasm, either in regard to the miracle
which
bears
effects of
caused his conversion, or to the consequential some other circumstances which he it, or to
in
his
epistles."
testimony to
Imagination
is
doubtless very strong, but
imprinted on it Now Paul on his journey to Damascus was un ing.
strong in the direction held at the time of its work by opinions

it is
doubtedly possessed of opinions utterly hostile to Chris tianity, and his passions were at that time inflamed by
the
irritating
consciousness
of his past
treatment of
them, the pride of continuing in a line of conduct on which he had voluntarily and publicly entered, and the
and praise that line of conduct obtained from him among the rulers of his nation. In this state of mind visions, marvels, alarms, and any other thing acting on his imagination only, would not undo the whole current and tide of his life and his opinions. Everything within him hurried him along in
credit
opposition to Jesus Christ
and when
his imagination
is
y6
.Lord Lyttleton on St. Paul.

it is
impressed
this self
in a direction utterly hostile to his every
and line of conduct. But even were deception under the force of mere imagination in Paul, how can it be explained that his fancy possible should be so real to others ; that his companions also, nothing actually happening, should see the light and hear the voice, and fall from their horses, and be speech
opinion, passion,
less
with
terror."
(Acts
"
ix.
Acts
xxii.
Acts
ix.
Acts xxvi. 14.)
But
it
may be
said,
something did happen.
storm
broke, or a meteor of unusual brilliancy fell." But how did this storm frame articulate voice and carry on a con
versation in
Hebrew ? and how can
the meteoric light
have given visions to Paul and Ananias simultaneously, and in such wise that each was led to a course of action
with that of the other, and exactly correspond and how could the thunder and the meteoric light ing ; combined have both struck Paul blind and have given to Ananias the power of restoring his sight suddenly and Moreover the fact of Paul s conversion and effectually ?
fitting in
wonderful events.
the miracle of Ananias were but parts in a long series of Could imagination thus excited shew
to Paul the vision of Jesus Christ many times ? Could a power of marvel-working, thus originated, have enabled Paul to preach the Gospel among the Gentiles from Jeru salem round about to Illyricum (that is to say in Judea,
Samaria, Galilee, Syria, the Lesser Asia, Pontus Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithynia, in Greece, and away to the confines
of Northern
Italy),
"with
mighty signs and wonders
wrought by the power of the Spirit of God, to make the Gentiles obedient to his preaching." (Acts ix. 17,
Lord
18;
xxii.
Lyttleton on St, Paul,
177
13,
17,
18;
all
xi.,
xxi.,
xxii.,
and
a
xxiii.
and
Rom.
xv.
18,
acts,
19.)
"Surely
such
series
of miraculous
dent on the
revelation
first
consequential to and depen revelation, puts the truth of that
beyond the
is
"
The
man
supposition but if the difficulties which have been shewn to j
possibility of doubt or deceit." that Paul was an enthusiastic mad
have obstructed that work which he did were such as the

ablest impostor could not overcome,
how much more

?"
insurmountable were they to a madman Indeed, how ever difficult it may be to account for the conversion and
Apostleship of Paul on the supposition that he was an impostor, it is a harder task to give an account of things
on the assumption that he was a mad enthusiast. His madness in its unreasoning, honest blundering did His fellow travellers, Ananias at things too wonderful.
"
"
Damascus, Sergius Paulus the prudent deputy at Paphos, Elymas the sorcerer, Eutychus at Troas, the priests and
people at Lystra, the jailor at Philippi, the barbarian Maltese, Erastus the city treasurer at Corinth, and Dionysius the learned areopagite at Athens, must have all been equally mad, and mad with marvellous uniformity ;
too with a madness which gave feet to the lame, eyes to the blind, healing to the sick, freedom to ironbound captives, and life to the dead ; mad with a mad.
ness which subdued to the faith of Christ
mad
men and wo
men
of
many
nations, of various religions, of every kind
of intellectual and educational degree, and of all ranks of Men here and there however still ascribe to imsociety.
magination that which Paul ascribes to the power of God, not perceiving that they ascribe to imagination the same
"
omnipotency which he ascribes to
God."
I2
178
Lord
One
other enquiry remains.
Was
Paul the victim of
others deceit,
and can
all
he said and did be referred to

"
the power of that deceit. to quote the words of Lord Lyttleton, need But say little to show the absurdity of this supposition. It
"
I,"
was morally impossible
for the disciples of Christ to
con
ceive such a thought as that of turning His persecutor into His Apostle, and to do this by a fraud in the very
them and their Lord. But could they have been so extravagant as to conceive such a thought, it was physically impossible for them to execute it in the manner we find his conversion to have been effected. Could they produce a light in the air which Could at mid-day was brighter than that of the sun ? they make Saul hear words from out of that light which
instant of his greatest fury against
were not heard by the
rest of the company ? Could they make him blind for three days after that vision ? and then make scales fall from off his eyes, and restore him to his
by a word ? Beyond dispute no fraud could do these things ; but much less still could the fraud of others produce those miracles subsequent to his conversion, in
sight
which he was not passive but

self
active,
which he did him
and appeals
to in his epistles as a proof of his Divine
I shall then take it for granted that he was not deceived by the frauds of others, and that what he said of himself cannot be imputed to the power of that deceit,
mission.
no more than to
then
it
wilful
imposture or to enthusiasm
and
follows that
cause of his
what he related to have been the conversion, and to have happened in conse
did
all
quence of
it,
really
happen, THEREFORE
REVELATION."
-
THE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION ISA DIVINE
Lord
179
To
is
the
mind of the
:
Christian believer the conclusion
absolute
but even in the case of the sincere but

it
sceptical enquirer,
ought to carry so
much
at least of
and probability as will make him very cautious and watchful before he rejects it ; and will lead him to give a truly humble and kindly attention to the exhortation of Paul, which in all love and brotherly kindness, I adopt as
force
my
shalt
own, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou be saved."

"
ALLEGED DIFFICULTIES IN THE MORAL TEACHING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

BY THE
REV.
Author of
"
C. A.
ROW,
M.A.,
Prebendary of St. Paul s, The Jesus of The Nature and Extent of Divine Inspiration" the Evangelists" The Moral Teaching of the NSW Testament," etc.
" "
in the Jlorai
Caching
treating
of the
of this
it
subject within
will
the limits
for
of an
IN hour
s lecture,
be necessary
me
only to
deal with objections which are urged by writers of high It would be simply impossible to literary reputation.
meet every conceivable objection

me.
in the space allotted to
Nor
is it
necessary that I should
do
so, for
conclude that
difficulties
which eminent
writers,
we may who do
not believe in Christianity, pass over in silence, exist only in the imagination of those who adduce them. Just in
the same
make
to me,
way it would be quite a legitimate answer to who am profoundly ignorant of the various
arts, if I
mechanical
were to attempt to instruct an ex
Pray perienced workman how to do his work better, try to master the very elements of the trade, and try your
own hand at it, before you presume to lecture have been in the business all our lives.
There are two well-known writers in
us,
who
this country,
whom
we
are quite ready to recognise as
men
of unquestionable
ability,
who have
raised exceptions against certain aspects
184
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
of the moral teaching of the New Testament Mr. F. W. Newman and the late Mr. J. S. Mill. Among other things, the first of these has published a tract, evidently
intended to be widely circulated, directly inculpating it ; and the second has published opinions which, while he
directly asserts that
he does not think that there

contrary to
thing in
its
teaching
is any sound morality, yet
he implies that he considers it defective. On one point I cordially agree with Mr. Newman, and
I solicit the attention of all unbelievers
to
it,
for
"
it
is
Our one which in controversy they greatly overlook. here is with the New Testament sole concern," says he,
"
as
it
stands, as
it
is
the
Church."
This
is
popularly received, and is read in the only correct principle. Let it
therefore, that in dealing with the moral teaching of the New Testament, we are are not concerned with that of anything which stands outside its pages. We have neither to discuss the practice of Christians,
be understood
nor to deal with the teaching of any other book.
Mr.
Newman s
thoroughly sound principle that he does not always abide by it.

is
only regret
The following passage will explain Mr. Newman s general opinions on this subject If one is asked to specify the defects in the New
:
"
Testament morality, the difficulty of reply is caused by the The defects are not too great abundance of material.
partial,
but
total.
They pervade
and are the greater

portance.
in each part,
the entire moral system, the greater its im
Fully to
enumerate the defects would

.
be
It
equivalent to writing a complete moral treatise.
must be added, that the defectiveness here complained of
Moral Teaching of
is
the
New
;
Testament.
185
sometimes that of
total
omission
precepts contrary to those of right and truth. the latter is the common case."
sometimes that of In fact,
I think that it will be conceded that Mr. Mill was a far more profound philosopher than Mr. Newman. On the most important portion of this charge he is hopelessly at issue with him. Having pointed out the clear distinction
which
exists between the moral teaching of the New Testament and what Mr. Mill designates "Theological
Morality,"
by which he means various systems of morality evolved during the centuries of the Church s history, and I which he charges with various defects, Mr. Mill says
"
am as
far as
anyone from pretending that these defects are
necessarily inherent in Christian Ethics, in any manner in which it can be conceived ; or that the many requisites of
a complete moral doctrine which it does not contain do not admit of being reconciled with it. Far less would I
insinuate this of the doctrines
himself.
and precepts of Christ

their
I believe that the sayings of Christ contain all
that
can
see
;
any evidence of
having been
intended to be
that they are irreconcilable with nothing
which a comprehensive morality requires ; that every thing which is excellent in Ethics may be brought within
them with no greater violence to their language than has been done to it, by all who have attempted to deduce from them any practical system whatever." (Essay on
"Liberty.")
Mr.
Newman
;
affirms
that principles contrary to truth
and
right
preponderate in the teaching of the
New
Testament
and
in
making
this affirmation
he includes
however,
many
of the sayings of Jesus Christ.
Mr.
Mill,
x86
is
The Alleged
"
Difficulties in the
the sayings of Christ are irreconcil of opinion that able with nothing which a comprehensive morality re
quires."
No
contradiction can be
more complete.
Mr.
Mill
certainly the higher authority on moral questions. Still, however, I apprehend that they agree in con
is
sidering that the moral teaching of the New Testament is defective i.e., that it does not fulfil the lequirements
of our present form of civilization. Yet there is an in Mill s on Mr. this language subject. Strictly obscurity
speaking, he is Morality" alone
the
charging this defect on "Theological but as at page 90 he refers expressly to
Testament, I think that it will be the most candid course for me to conclude that he intended to include
the teaching of the New Testament in this charge of deficiency, while he expressly absolves it from that of
New
immorality. Before examining the

writers, I
"
positions
I
of
either
of
these
must lay down what

a system of moral
mean when
teaching,"
I Use the I
expression
and when
affirm that that in the
New
Testament
is
adequate to
meet the requirements of every stage of

this expression is frequently
civilization.
By
understood not only a body of principles, but of precepts, which should give suitable
what is the correct line of duty in every which we can be placed. I restrict it to a body of principles, from which the correct line of duty may be evolved in all special cases ; and I also include
directions as to
emergency
in
under the term those various moral and
spiritual forces,
powers, and motives which are adequate to make the moral law predominate over the mind of man. If I understand
Mr.
Newman
rightly,
he
is
of opinion that the
New
Moral Teaching
Testament ought also
life, if it is
of the
New
Testament.
187
to have contained a body of precepts elaborated so as to meet the various circumstances of
to
be entitled to be considered an
effective
The number of questions which he considers that it ought to have solved is very numerous. Thus he complains that its political teachings are very obscure and inadequate.
moral guide to
in every stage of civilization.
man
charges it with having omitted several most important questions of individual and social morality altogether,
or with having dealt with them on false principles. Judging by the special instances adduced by him, he seems to consider that it ought to have contained solu
tions of all the individual, social,
He
and
political
questions
of morality which can arise.
am not sure that
he would
I reply that a not add a complete body of casuistry. system of moral teaching may be complete and wholly adequate which leaves unattempted the various things of
which Mr.
I
Newman demands
to
that the
New
of
Testament
the
should contain a complete solution,
am happy
say that the
pages
New
Testament make no pretensions whatever to solve every conceivable detail of duty or doubtful moral question
which may
arise.
If they
had done
so,
it
would have
constituted an objection against it far more formidable than the strongest which can be urged by unbelievers.
The
a
writers
to be done,
free
would have attempted to do what is impossible and what, if done, would degrade man from moral agent into a machine. In proof that it
pretension, I shall quote the authority ot
it
"
makes no such
Mr.
Mill.
If
[Christian Morality]
means,"
says he,
"the
teaching of the
New
Testament, I wonder that
88
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
itself,
anyone who derives his knowledge of this from the book can suppose that it was announced, or intended, as
morals."
a complete doctrine of
In
this expression
of
wonder
affirmed
I heartily concur,
whether the contrary has been

It contains all the
by Christians or
unbelievers.
great principles of moral teaching, but leaves the elabora tion of them, and their application to specific cases, to
be determined by the enlightened conscience of the

individual.
Yet such an attempt has been made, and the result only shows that it is incapable of realization, The Jewish
Talmud
is
movement
in that direction. Its bulk

it
is
about
is
fourteen folio volumes, yet
contains very
little
which
applicable to our Western civilization.
The
Scribes
and
Pharisees, the predecessors of the Talmudists,

their
powers in refinements on moral
duties,
expended which led to

Christian
into
a disregard of the weightiest obligations. writers have been guilty of the same
Many
folly,
which
heathen ones had fallen before them.

great
The
treatise of the
"De Officiis," gives us curious of questions many raising on moral subjects, as for instance whether, in case of a loss at sea, a man should save a worthless slave or a valuable
Roman orator Cicero,

specimens of this
entitled
mode
horse
whether a wise
man when
;
in the water should
wrench a plank from a fool are shipwrecked, and there
also, in case
two wise men.
only a single plank sufficient to support one, which of the two should seize the plank, and which should yield it to the other. The mode of
is
settling this last question is
somewhat
curious.
The two
is
wise
men
are to determine in the water
whose life
most
valuable for his
own
sake or for that of the republic.
Moral Teaching of
Having
water,
retain
the
New
Testament*
189
settled this rather complicated
problem in the
is
the
the
man whose
plank,
life
is
the most valuable

to
to
and the other
bottom.
there
is little
Such questions will or no moral earnestness.
go quietly to the only be discussed where
or to lay
Instead of attempting to settle questions of casuistry, down rules of conduct, which can be applied
life,
mechanically to the ever-varying circumstances of
Mr. Mill
says,
and says
"
truly,
The Gospel always

its
refers
to a pre-existing morality,
particulars in
and confines
precepts to the
which that morality was to be corrected or superseded by a wider and a higher." He would have described the case more correctly, if he had said that it
contents
itself
with laying down the great fundamental of principles duty, and then appeals to the conscience enlightened by its teaching, as the only adequate guide
to direct us as to what is the course of duty in the innumerable and often conflicting circumstances in which we are placed. Instead of attempting to lay down a set
of rules as guides to conduct, worthlessness of such systems.

morality
it
it
announces the utter

seat of all
Its
The
great
all
sound
under
it
places
in
man s
spirit.
its
precepts are
intended as illustrations of
existing
principles
circumstances.
Above
things
let
be
observed that Christianity professes to be a law of liberty, and not of slavish adhesion to a mere literal
commandment.
however, the New Testament professes to be, a moral guide adequate to meet the wants of man in every condition of civilization. How then, if the
Still,
and
is
case be as
have stated,
is this
possible ?
Ought not
it
190
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
to contain what Mr. Mill designates a complete system of Ethical doctrine ? I answer that it effects its purpose
better by laying down great principles, which embrace every possibility of moral obligation. It also brings a number of mighty forces to bear on the heart and the spirit of man. It directs its appeals to every principle of our nature which can be enlisted into the
service of holiness.
much
When
these principles are kindled
into activity,
it
constitutes the enlightened conscience a
law to
itself.
I will at once lay
down
the great principles
constitute the essence of Christian morality,
which and which,

being,
are
when they have thoroughly penetrated our

adequate to be the guide of
life.
First, the
moral law as
proclaimed by Jesus Christ is announced as consisting of two great commandments, which are the foundations of
all
moral obligation.
to love
The
first
of these flows from

creature,
man
he
s
is
relationship to his Creator.
Being His
bound
sesses,
Him
with every affection which he pos
and
this
to devote to
Him
his entire being.
By
laying
down
fundamental principle of His teaching, Jesus Christ did what the whole of the ancient He brought to bear philosophers failed to accomplish.
as the great
on man s moral nature the whole force of his religious being, and presented the idea of duty on the widest and most comprehensive principle. On this duty of
man
to
God,
He
erected the second great principle
on which all obligation between man and man must rest, and which embraces every possible duty in its
Thou shalt love thy neighbour all-comprehensive sweep, He then proclaimed that the idea of neigh as thyself.
"
;>
Moral Teaching
of the
New
Testament.
jgt
bourhood as between man and man was not limited by

the
ties of
essence was,
country, citizenship, sect, or race, but that its man wherever met with in need of help.
in Christ s teaching consists in the power of performing acts of kindness on the one hand, and the presence of necessity on the other. This great law of
Neighbourhood
obligation of
selfish
man
to
man was
This
not limited by one single

plainly
consideration.
is
and
definitely
taught in the parable of the
man who fell among thieves, in which Jesus Christ broke down all the narrow distinc tions which separated man from man in the ancient
world.
Let
it
be particularly observed that
He
has ex
tended
are
by one another, not only as they love So wide has He themselves, but as He has loved them.
this obligation
further teaching that Christians
bound
to love
laid
down
the principle of obligation.
This principle of self-sacrifice is the central position of It is one the moral teaching of the New Testament.
most wide and all-embracing. I will cite a single passage "None of as an illustration of it. says St. Paul, and no man dieth to himself; for "liveth to himself,
us,"
whether we
live,
we
live
unto the Lord

:
and whether we
Lord whether we live therefore, or die, are the Lord s ; for to this end Christ both died die, and rose, that He might be the Lord of the dead and
we we
die to the
living."
This principle is adequate to determine every It demands the most question of moral obligation. absolute sacrifice of self in the service of Jesus Christ.
If a
doubt
arises
whether
this or that line of
conduct
is
duty, or what is the amount of self-sacrifice which is required at our hands in the discharge of it, we have
jga
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
only to ask ourselves two questions, and the answer will at once determine the line of conduct which ought to be
The pursued, and the degree of self-sacrifice required. first of these questions is, What do I wish that anothei should do to me, if I were in his place ? The second is,
To what extent has Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for me ? I owe a similar sacrifice of self to Him. In what ever position of life a Christian may be placed, he is
Christ
for
s,
bound
;
to discharge every duty
which
it
requires
His sake
as
and
that not grudgingly, but

obligation,
measured
self-
only,
to the extent of the
by the
sacrifice of
It
is
Jesus Christ for him. quite evident that both Mr.
Newman
have overlooked
this great
Mill and Mr. and fundamental
New Testament, without the deepest attention to which it is impossible to form a correct estimate of its scope and bearing. At any rate I can find no reference to it in their estimate of its
principle of the moral teaching of the
moral teaching.
its
It is to this
that their complaint that to the require
teaching
is
inadequate in reference
civilization
is
I maintain, on the contrary, that it is adequate to guide us on every question of individual, social, or political morality which
ments of advancing
due.
can
gious
arise.
The
Jesus Christ claims, not only our reli but every portion of our secular calling. distinction between them is destroyed by Chris
duties,
tianity.
In
its
view
all
secular
duties
have become
Christ demands as His the entire life, religious ones. The Christian is to continue in the it. of short nothing
calling
in
which he
is
injunction in the
New
called of God. There is no Testament that a man, when he
Moral Teaching of
became a
unless
it
it
the
New
Testament.
93
Christian,
was to leave
his
secular calling,
On the contrary, positively ministered to vice. contains many exhortations to discharge it faithfully as
and not unto man.
to the Lord,
Whenever good
is
to
be done, he is bound to do it. Whenever the condition of man can be ameliorated, the morality of Christianity
teaches that
effect
it,
we
are
bound
to exert our
utmost
efforts to
as
"
due not only
to our brother
own,"
man, but unto the

"
Lord.
Ye
are not your

in
writes St. Paul
there
fore glorify
God
your body and in your
spirit,
which
are
God
s."
But while the
New
Testament appeals
to this as tht
fundamental groundwork of its teaching, let it bo ob served that it has invoked every other principle of our
nature which can be enlisted into the service of holiness.
quote a single passage, but it is a very what one. writes St. Paul, comprehensive Finally," soever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
In proof of
this I
"
"
just, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think of these things." Here we find the principle of
whatsoever things are
truth,
of honour,
that of the approbation of society,

lence,
of justice, of the morally beautiful, man s love of excel
and even
his desire for praise,
appealed
to, to
ex
cite us in the pursuit of
good and virtuous. I ask whether any teaching can be more comprehensive ? It is satisfactory to observe that Mr. Mill deals with the teaching of the New Testament in a spirit very dif ferent from that of Mr. Newman. While the Tract before
what
is
rue
is
an attack upon
it
of the strongest character, 13
it
does
194
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
is
not contain a single allusion to the fact that its teaching based on the widest and most comprehensive princi
ples which I have enumerated, and which are indelibly stamped on its pages. Yet to judge the teaching of a
book, without estimating the principles on which it is founded, is impossible. They assign to the subordinate
I ask emphatically whether meaning. of dealing with questions can be conducive to the interests of truth ?
details their entire
such a
mode
I will
before
now deal with as many of me as my space will allow.
the special objections
Mr.
Newman
objects
that the views of the writers of the
Testament as to the nearness of the future world must have rendered
New
them inadequate moral

idea widely spread entertained by very
interest
teachers.
I believe
that
is
it is
an
s
among many in
is
unbelievers,
and
certainly
this hall, that
a Christian
in this
life
so short,
and
that his desire to
effect his
own
salvation ought to
necessarily to
make
be so absorbing, as the consistent Christian indifferent

is
to
all
the higher interests of humanity.
I reply, that this opinion
not founded on anything
contained in the
New
Testament.
Whatever may be the
assertions of unbelievers with respect to the expectation
of the followers of Jesus Christ as to the speedy end of the present dispensation, it is a plain fact that many of our Lord s parables, in which He explained the nature of
His kingdom,
assert that
it
would be one of a slow and
gradual growth, and that human nature would become penetrated with Christian principles only by means of a Of this the parables in Matt slow and gradual progress.
xiii.
are a striking example.
Moral Teacmng of
the
New
Testament.
195
relative
is
Whatever views may be entertained about the
nearness or distance of the period of the end, there
one
very palpable fact on which we must all agree, that human life is short. In a moral point of view there can
be
little
difference whether
life is short,
is
we are firmly persuaded that or the coming of Christ s kingdom near. It
a plain fact both to Christians and unbelievers, whether they like to think about it or not, that at best our time
for
doing any important work here is very limited, and that our interest in earthly things may pass away at any hour. The objection applies to both alike.
Next, Christianity expressly teaches that a man s world to come will be best provided for by a diligent discharge of the duties of the present. Where is
interest in the
it
said, I ask, that

?
save his soul

his best
is
mode
man should neglect his duties to the contrary, he is expressly told that of promoting his interests in the world to
a
On
come, by the diligent discharge of every known duty in the present life. Does not the New Testament expressly teach that every opportunity of doing good, every faculty, and every endowment, is a stewardship entrusted to the
by his Master ? Surely, if there is a great deal be done, and but a short time to do it in, the harder one works, the better. If a railway station is a mile off,
Christian
to
and
train, I
have only fourteen minutes before the arrival of the think this an urgent reason for mending my pace.
As the parable
teaches, it is only the slothful servant who hides his talent in the earth. I fully concede that the
New
Testament
lays
down
that the next world
is
vastly
more important than the present one. So is the subse quent period of our lives, compared with the interval of
196
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
five or six years
which we pass
at school.
But those who

have
inflicted
life,
have spent
their school-days in idleness
an
irreparable damage on
their interests in their future
and
frequently the deepest repentance is unable to repair the The more important are our interests in the mischief.
world to come, the more important is it for us rightly to use the present life as a preparation for it.
But Mr.
Newman
further observes:
"That
St.
Paul
teaching should not be definite concerning the rights and duties of citizens, concerning war, concerning slavery, and the rights of man, followed necessarily from his belief that
the end of
left to
all
things
was so close
at
hand.
No
time was
improve the world, to regenerate politics, to en franchise slave castes ; radical change was impossible ;
Dalliation of evil
I reply,
first,
was only to be thought

it
of."
that if
is
necessary to render a system
of moral teaching an adequate guide, that it should con tain definite information on all these points, it would
involve the production of a library of considerable size. Nor is this all it would be necessary that it should be
:
constantly enlarged, to meet the ever varying circum stances of our political and social life. Yet this is really
what
would have been necessary that the writers of the should have done if the absence of these subjects is to be viewed as an objection against the ade
it
New Testament
quacy of
their teaching.
They have acted more
wisely
by enunciating great the entering on such

is
principles of morality which render
subjects entirely unnecessary.
Next, as I have observed, the shortness of the time an additional reason for the diligent discharge of duty.
teaching
is,
Its
that duties are to
be discharged
at all
Moral Teaching of
the
New
Testament.
197
hazards, without reference to

duties
results
results.
The measuring
utilitarian gospel,
by and not to that of Jesus Christ. Mr. Newman imagines that no man with the views which he attributes to the
would only attempt this nowhere hinted
Christians could be in favour of radical changes, but I find palliations of existing evils.
in the pages of the
belongs to the
modern
first
New
Testament.
of Christianity in the first century took a very different view of the subject, and mistook the The charge which apostles for a species of radicals.
The opponents
Those who have they preferred against them was, turned the world upside down, have come hither also." Christianity really seeks to effect a most radical change
"
in
human
There
nature.
is
doubtless a great diversity of view between
the writers of the

lievers as to the
New Testament and modern unbe most effectual mode of acting on man. Both alike are animated by a desire to effect a radical change in his condition, and seek to effect his elevation. The one were of opinion that the right way to effect this was to begin with that which is inward, and to work from
the inward to his outward condition.
that the correct
The
is
other think
method of procedure
is
to reverse this
process.
ciple
I
The
difference
one of method, not of prin

is
assert that all experience
in favour of that
pursued by Christ and His apostles, and that all great and beneficial changes have been effected by bringing mighty forces to bear on man s inmost being, and that
all
moral and
I will
spiritual regeneration
must originate from
within.
now
take Mr,
Newman s
points seriatim.
198
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
If I understand
him
rightly,
he considers that the
New
Testament ought to have laid down a positive doctrine, as to what is right and wrong in our political relations. On the contrary, 1 have always considered that its abstinence from
attempting to do this constitutes one of the particular ex cellences of its teaching. By this alone it has been able to
accommodate its teaching to the universal condition of man. What would have been the result if it had been the duty of the Church of Jesus Christ to meddle with political questions? When it has unwisely attempted to do this the results have been disastrous. Nothing is more certain than that
the different races of men require different forms of political
government.
The
laws and constitutions which
fit
one
nation do not suit another, just in the same way as it is impossible to manufacture a coat which will fit every man s We have had abundance of evidence figure and size.
that the attempt to foist the institutions of
one nation on
another have
ended
in failure.
Its
freedom from advo
cating any particular form of political constitution has adapted Christianity to every nation under heaven. Next, if they had commenced their labours by en
deavouring to regenerate the faulty political constitutions around them, they would have ensured the active oppo
sition of every existing government, and brought them to In this respect the contrast a speedy termination. between it and Judaism is remarkable. Judaism was
designed for a single nation, and it contains the outlines of a political constitution suited to its requirements. Christianity was intended to exert a mighty moral and
spiritual
it
influence over every nation under heaven,
and
contains none.
Yet the
writers of the
New Testament
Moral Teaching of
the
New
Testament.
199
were Jews, who felt for the Old Testament a profound veneration ; and yet they have deliberately abandoned its
political
institutions,
and substituted no others
in their
Nearly every ancient philosopher, at the con place. clusion of his writings on morals, favoured the world with
his ideas
on the laws and constitution of a
republic,
through which he hoped to
effect the regeneration of society.
always fell still-born ; and neither the men of his age, nor of any subsequent one, have been persuaded to adopt it. Mahomet fell into the error of uniting with
But
it
own
his
is
moral code a body of
political legislation.
The
result
that
Mahometanism
Koran
only fitted for Orientals. The will never extend its influence beyond the unprois
gressive races of mankind.
The same remark
is
true
respecting Hindooism. Its caste system is both destructive to itself, and unfit for every other nation.
Yet the
is
New
Testament
lays
down a few broad
prin
ciples respecting political duties.
It teaches that political
society
obedience
an ordinance of God; that to public authorities is to be rendered conscientiously ; that the end
of political society is the good of the governed ; and that there are certain limits within which civil government has no
right to interfere.
In ancient States
political
and religious
obligations were frequently confounded, and no respect was shown in their legislation for the rights of conscience.
Jesus Christ laid
down
"
clearly
that
man
is
bound by
"
Render higher obligations than those due to the State. to Caesar," says He, the things which are Caesar s, and
the things which are God In no work of ancient clear a distinction is there so any philosopher any as to the limits of civil obedience. If Jesus Christ and
to
s."
God
200
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
His apostles had been the fanatics which unbelievers

charge them with having been, they would have dealt with political questions in a very different spirit. Fanatics have so done in all times. Their mode of referring to
one of the strongest proofs of judgment. Mr. Newman next asserts that the
is
them
their calmness of
New
Testament
contains no precept regulating the practice of war. I am astonished at this assertion, for I have read it to little
purpose
if it
does not contain
many which have
the closest
bearing on it. The only thing which is true is, that it does not contain a formal treatise on the law of nations, or one
regulating the duties of belligerents.
war,
when every
virtue
which
it
What Nothing about pronounces to be pre

!
eminently Christian is utterly opposed to its practice? Nothing about war, when it contains a direct precept to
enemy? Let its moral teaching become an and war will become an impossibility. This pe actuality, of its culiarity teaching is all the more striking when we take into consideration the fact that ancient writers do not say one word in condemnation of war, but many in its praise, and that the martial virtues received their highest commendation. The most eminent men of ancient times had no compunction to kill, to enslave, or to destroy. A similar objection is made, because it contains no
feed one
s
precept directly commanding the abolition of slavery. Is it the only, or even the most efficacious way, I ask, to bring about the extinction of an institution deeply interwoven
with the whole fabric of society, by commanding its aboli tion by direct precept ? Is not the inevitable result of the
great principles of
its
teaching,
when they have thoroughly
Moral
Teaching of the
New
Testament.
201
its certain and gradual penetrated the mind of man, What mean, I ask, its reiterated declara destruction?
tions, that all

is
men
the meaning of
What are brothers in Jesus Christ ? its positive assertion, that in Jesus
Christ there is no distinction between bond nor free, and between one race and another, but that all are children
common father ? I should simply weary you it I were to quote passages which assert the elevation of the humbler classes of mankind, and multitudes of others which utterly conflict with every principle on which
of a
slavery
is
built.
Some
of the grandest exhibitions of
Christian martyrdom were exhibited in the persons of Renan tells us that the Neronian persecution of slaves.
the Church commenced the elevation of both slave and woman. I assert that nothing more exhibits the sobriety of
the teaching of the New Testament, than the mode in which it deals with the question of slavery. It has been
objected, that
its
greatest missionary tolerated
it.
He did,
and he acted wisely in so doing. There were elements There had in society enough for stirring up a servile war. been many such in the previous history of Rome. With what result had they been attended? The aggravation of the suspension the slave s of condition, and thousands of slaves on crosses on the public roads ol
Italy.
Would
the Christian missionary have promoted
the interest of the slave, by stirring up a servile war, while the emperor was the master of forty legions ? The writers of the New Testament acted wisely, in laying
down principles which could not help sapping

centre.
slavery to
it:;
Unbelievers are always anxious to refer to the
202
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
teachings of ancient philosophy.

ask, has laid
What
philosopher, I
down any
principle
which was subversive of
slavery ?
On the contrary, some of the greatest of them expressly taught that slavery was the natural condition of An eminent Roman, I mean Cato the Censor, society.
worn-out slaves to perish and
die.
St.
left his
Paul says,
"Masters,
knowing
give to your slaves that which is just and equal, that you have a Master in heaven." Please to
"just
observe his words,
and equal/ do you except against

of the
this as the right principle for regulating the relations
He tells the Christian capitalist and the workman? slave, ii he had the opportunity of getting his freedom, to embrace it. He sent back to his master, it is true, a
runaway
slave,
whom
in
panied with a
letter
more pathetic
he had converted, but accom compared with which there is nothing the whole range of literature the
It is worth your reading as an Epistle to Philemon. of composition, though somewhat marred exquisite piece
in
He promises under his hand to he debt might have contracted; and then pay any a right to command, he entreats his he had that hinting
our translation
liberty
by every pathetic consideration which could weigh

"
on a
sensitive mind.
Receive
"
him,"
says he,
not as a
slave,
me;
flesh,
but above a slave, a brother beloved, specially to but how much more unto thee, both in the
and
in the
Lord."
He
designates
heart."
him
as
"his
son, born in
his bonds, his
facts subversive of
Are not these the fundamental principles on which
own
slavery rests ? I cannot forbear drawing your attention to a striking

contrast.
great philosopher, justly
admired by unbe-
Moral Teaching of
lievers, the
the
New
Testament.
203
sat
Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,
on
the imperial throne of the Roman Empire during the middle of the second century of our era. He was influenced by a deep sense of duty, but he issued no edict enjoining
the manumission of the slave.
In our day an emperor
who
his
not a philosopher, but a Christian, has issued an edict abolishing slavery throughout the wide extent of
is
dominions.
He
so
has
liberated
serfs
by tens of
millions,
and
for
doing he deserves the gratitude
of mankind. I fearlessly put the question, Which is more favourable to liberty, that philosophy which teaches that all mankind are descended from an ape ; or Christianity
which teaches that
all
men have a common
father,
even
God?
But Mr.
Newman
further objects, St. Paul s teaching
is
deficient in not enunciating the rights of
man.
Does he
mean
deliberately to affirm, that improvement to the pages of the
it
New
would have been an Testament if they

?
had contained a direct discussion on this subject has done better. Although it may not have
It
said
much about
of man.
the rights,
it
has said
much about
"
the duties
Better irrigation, or cultivation, better roads, better laws of land, better condi tion for the poor, better government, equally with improved
But adds Mr. Newman,
astronomy or other science, were matters of little worth to one who expected a Divine Governor and Avenger, Does Mr. shortly to appear in the clouds of heaven."
the
Newman mean to imply that for the purpose of constituting New Testament an adequate guide as to the duties of
that
it
life,
ought to have contained a treatise on road
making, or agriculture, or astronomy, or exhortations en-
204
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
But it will joining special diligence in these pursuits ? be objected, nothing is more suited to prevent attention
to such subjects than the expectation of the nearness of the
end of the world

fact
;
I reply, that the shortness of life is
may
long.
perishes with his body, all earthly interest be over to us at any moment, and cannot endure
if
man
full realization of this unques on the part of unbelievers, produce a similar result ? There are passages in St. Paul s writings which show that he was far from being indifferent to the evils by which society is afflicted. He was very far from being
Why
should not a
tionable fact,
was exposed, the wrongs inflicted by magistrates, or the dangers arising from mobs, and he uniformly dealt with such questions with practical wisdom. One thing is certain, that the
insensible to the perils to which the traveller
Author of Christianity
laid
down, whether His coming was
near or remote, that diligence in their respective callings
was the great duty of His followers that He would call them to account for everything with which He had en trusted them and that those who simply endeavoured to what preserve they had, without actively using it, would be visited with His heaviest censure. If it is a man s
; ;
duty to cut a road, or to improve a piece of land, or to study astronomy, the teaching of the New Testament
requires that he should
"
do
it
it
with his utmost diligence.
Whatsoever ye do, do
men."
heartily as unto the Lord,
and
not unto
Mr. Newman s complaints of the defectiveness of the teaching of the New Testament on the principles of social and political morality are widely scattered throughout this Tract. Among them, is the old charge
Moral Teaching of
of
its
the
New
Testament.
205
omission to enforce the duty of patriotism.
Mr.
Mill also seems to be of opinon, that it greatly ignores our public duties. At page 90 of his Essay on Liberty, he
writes as follows
"
And
while in the morality of the best

just liberty of the individual, in
pagan
nations, duty to the State held a most disproportionate
place, infringing
on the
purely Christian Ethics, that grand department of duty is scarcely noticed or acknowedged." If I were to understand
the words
"
Christian
Ethics"
in this passage, as
meaning
what Mr. Mill has elsewhere

"Theological
Morality,"
laid
as
meaning, viz. contradistinguished from

its
down
as
the teaching of the New Testament, the observation before me would lie beyond the purpose of this lecture.
But he adds
"
It is in the
Koran, and not in the
New
Testament, that
any man to dominions better
we read the maxim, a ruler who appoints an office, when there is another man in his
qualified for
it,
sins against
God and
What little recognition the idea of against the State. obtains in modern morality, is the to public obligation
derived
from
Greek
and Roman
sources,
life,
not from
Christian; as even in the morality of private

exists of
whatever
magnanimity, high-mindedness, personal dignity, even the sense of honour, is derived from the purely human, not from the religious side of our education." It seems to me that in this passage Mr. Mill intended to
include the moral teaching of the New Testament in his Theological charge of defectiveness, and not simply
"
Morality."
concur with Mr. Mill in thinking that in the ancient
of patriotism occupied a systems of morality the duty In fact, ancient moralists very disproportionate place.
206
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
viewed morality as a branch of politics. When, how ever, he censures Christianity for disregarding this duty, he has committed an oversight, of which his own account
autobiography of his early training affords an adequate solution. I propose the following answer
in
his
First,
as to the general principle.
Patriotism as a
is far from being one which admits of an indiscri minate commendation. As it was exhibited in the ancient
virtue
world (nor is the modern world blameless), which were connected with it were enormous.
it
the evils
What
did
mean
in the
mouth of a Roman
A ruthless disregard
of the rights oi those who were not citizens, and the What were the views trampling on a conquered world.
entertained respecting it by the Greek ? devotion to the interests of a little state consisting of 30,000 citizens, and rarely coming up to that number ; a disregard of the
and of neighbouring states; and a con temptuous trampling on every one whom he considered a a barbarian, whom he might enslave or plunder at his plea sure. What effects had it on the Jew ? It shrivelled up his
interests of the vast servile class
the right to consign enemies to death or slavery;
character into an exclusive narrowness, such as we have it described in the classic writers. In the midst of the weary
mass of
filled, I
selfishness with
which the pages of history are
own
that I cannot help feeling a certain

self-sacrifice
amount of
was
admiration for the
which
it
envoked, even in
its
the midst of the manifold evils with which
practice
attended.
sacrifice
There
of
self,
always something noble in the in whatever form it may be exhibited.

is
The
inscription placed over the 400 Spartans and their companions, who perished at Thermypolae, is one of grand
Moral Teaching of
"
the
New
Testament.
207
simplicity
We lie here, obeying her laws." The laws of Sparta told the citizen not to turn his back on his enemy, but to die. Still it is impossible to close our in the eyes to the enormous evils which were wrought is therefore Testament The New name of patriotism.
:
It this quality as a virtue. right in not taking notice of has consecrated as the first of virtues all that was essen
tially
good and great
in
it,
the principle of the sacrifice
of self for the good of others, and placed it the highest It gives us all that was noble in it, among duties. without any of its defects. I have never read a work written by an unbeliever, in which the duty of self-sacrifice has been recognised as the great and all-distinguishing principle of Christian teaching,
mating
or in which a proper place has been assigned to it in esti Yet it is evident to every its teaching as a whole.
careful reader of the
New Testament that it forms

and
that
it is
the cor
ner-stone of Christian morality,

to
it
impossible
do
it
justice without deeply considering the place

it.
which
must be carefully observed that those principles of our moral nature which terminate in self, have their proper place assigned to them
holds in
While
this is the case,
it
in the
New Testament.
But above them, regulating them,
and
controlling them, stands this great duty of self-sacrifice. holy Christ seats Himself down in the place, which in
ancient morality was occupied by citizenship and race. He calls forth the highest sacrifice of our selfish nature ;
He claims the entire man, body, soul, and spirit, to be consecrated to His service, and to be engaged in doing His work. That work is to do good with all his
power, and with all his means ; no act is too great, none too lowly, not to be demanded by this great principle.
2 o8
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
assert then that this duty constitutes a great
pnih
ciple,
which
is
adequate to guide us in
all
it
ments of
is
political or social morality.
By
the
the require the Christian

;
bound to do to and he is to do
standing imparts.
feel
his brother
it
man
all
good he can
with the best light which his under The Christian politician is bound to
to
an
entire
responsibility
do
his
duty with his
utmost powers in the situation in which he

is
is placed. So and every public officer. The Christian landlord is bound by it to exert the influence of his position for the good of those dependent on him ; so is so is the Christian merchant ; the Christian capitalist
the magistrate,
the Christian in every possible calling. So, let me add, is the Christian workman bound to do his work so
is
facture shoddy,
honestly and well, and not, as Carlyle says, to manu and to worship Beelzebub. There is no
social or political
duty which this principle does not to perform, and to perform well. the Christian require Mill s precept from the Koran, I Mr. Slightly altering
affirm
office,
if
while there
it,
a Christian ruler were to appoint a man to an is another man better qualified to dis
charge
special precept to inform
and he was aware of the fact, it requires no him that he sins against this
s
great duty. Mr. Mill
idea of
morality
obligation
"
is
next assertion, that whatever recognition the to the public obtains in modern derived from Greek and Roman sources, not
ones,"
from Christian
is
surely
owing to
his
want of
appreciation of the all-comprehensive duty of which I have been speaking. No inconsiderable portion of the
teaching of the
New
Testament
is
occupied in enforcing
Moral Teaching of
on us the Look
"
the
New
Testament.
209
duties
we owe
St.
to others,
"
i.e.
to the public.
to
his
not,"
says
Paul,
every
man
own
This
"
things, but every
man
to the things of
others."
manner enforced by example, I would gladly," says he, spend and be spent for you, though the more earnestly I love you, the less I be loved." The whole life of the apostle was occupied in the dis
duty
is
in the strongest
"
men and women
charge of public as distinct from private duties. Ordinary are far more indebted to such teaching,
as the source of their obligations to society, than anything
which they have learned from Greek or Roman writers. All that can be said is, that the New Testament contains
no chapter
specially
devoted to the elaboration of our
political or social duties, though it lays down principles abundantly adequate to guide us in the discharge of
them, and to excite us to their practice. I am still more astonished at the following passage, which I can only attribute to the prepossessions pro
duced by Mr. Mill

:
s early
education, as set forth in his
autobiography "As even in the morality of private life, whatever exists of magnanimity, high-mindedness, personal
dignity,
purely
I
even the sense of honour, is derived from the human, not from the religious part of our
is
education."
ask boldly,
this
a fact
The New Testament
forms the most important ingredient in the training of ordinary men and women. Its principles have largely
found therein ?
of honour
?
modified modern society. Is not high-mindedness to be Is not personal dignity ? Is not a sense
Doubtless
is
perfect humility
it teaches humility ; but the most consistent with all these qualities,
i4
210
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
is a and
The human
side of the character of Jesus Christ
perfect exhibition of magnanimity, high-mindedness,
Was not the man who would not in personal dignity. trude himself on other men s labours, but who worked
with his
own hands
to support
himself and his
com
panions, instead of allowing his converts to contribute to Was he ever deficient in a high-minded man ? it,
showing
iruth, of
self-respect or dignity ?
Has he not appealed
to
the highest principles of
human
nature, to our love of
honourable conduct,
justice, purity,
moral beauty,
"
to the enlightened opinion of society,
even to our love of
approbation ? This lowers of me."

I
man
expressly writes,
Be ye
class
fol
now
address
myself to
that
numerous
of
objections which may be summed up in the assertion, that the teaching of the New Testament contradicts that of
the science called Political
Probably many in
principles
this
very grievous charge, for
Economy. room do not consider this a that in some of its 1^ suspect

"
you
are
Thomas
Carlyle, as dismal science and

;"
hearty believers. the has designated it you know, if its teachings are the sole message
far
from being
of good news which we have to address to degraded man, I shall not dispute that it is dismal enough. I will
my own opinion. This science is an exhibition of number of partial truths respecting human nature ; but it contemplates only one aspect of it, and if it is pro pounded as the sole means of regenerating or elevating
state
mankind, or as adequate to the entire wants of our moral

nature, or as the sole physician of our condition morally
and
physically,
it
becomes a
cruel parody.
Man
has
Moral Teaching of
wants and aspirations which
the
New
Testament
211
this science
it
can never meet,
and
is
subject to disasters
which
cannot remedy.
The following, I apprehend, contains the real point of the objection. Christianity is so earnest in teaching the duties of benevolence, kindness, and almsgiving, that it must come into collision with those of industry, saving,
accumulation of capital, and the production of wealth, without which advancement in civilization is impossible ; and that it is even adverse to the accumulation of the
fund necessary for the payment of wages. First, I observe that mankind are subject to
calamities, with
dire
which the principles of this science are Let us consider an in wholly inadequate to grapple.
stance or two.
man who is the sole support of his family dies suddenly, and leaves them destitute, or is seized with sickness which utterly incapacitates him ; or his children are idiots, and otherwise incapable of earning
their bread.
I
need not enumerate to you the ten thou

life is
sand calamities to which
liable.
Multitudes of
men
for
also are sunk into a profound state of moral degra dation. All these things can only be provided
adequately
by the stimulation of those
virtues
and
its
affections, to
which Christian moral teaching directs

appeals.
I
most earnest
affections in
think that you will agree with me, that the selfish man are far stronger than the benevolent ones. If men could be cured of the vices which Chris
tianity
pre-eminently denounces, the affections which terminate in self are quite adequate to take care of them
selves,
feelings,
and require no stimulation. Our benevolent under which head I include all those which
2 i2
The Alleged
self-sacrifice,
Difficulties in the
prompt us to
are comparatively feeble.
The
idea presented to
most crowded
quietly surveying the parts of the City during the most active
my mind when
is, The weakest to the wall Sorrow, misfortune do not expect relief or atten or misery, tion here. When, then, the moral teaching of the New
hours of business
Testament throws
all
its
energy into the
attempt to
quicken the benevolent feelings of our nature, and leaves the selfish ones comparatively uncared for, I think that
you
will
not take exception to this portion of
its
teaching.
I will
examine a few
of the objections in detail.
First, Mr. Newman affirms that all the precepts oi On this Jesus Christ were intended to be taken literally. point Mr. Mill disagrees with him ; and he also thinks that
they are irreconcilable with nothing which a comprehen

sive morality requires.
Mr.
Newman
endeavours to sup
first
port his position
by
affirming that
His
followers so
understood Him, referring to the opening chapters of These undoubtedly tell us, the Acts of the Apostles. that under the peculiar circumstances in which the infant
large numbers of its members con But there is tributed their property to a common fund. a portion of the narrative which he has omitted to notice,
Church was placed,
and which
is
conclusive against his position.

"
Peter
is
Ananias, why hath Satan represented as saying, thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ? Whiles it
filled
(* . e.
the land) remained, was it not thine own ? and after it These words was sold, was it not in thine own power
?"
make
it
clear that the act of contributing to the

it it
common
stock was a purely voluntary one ; that dition of Church membership, nor was
formed no con
any portion of
Moral Teaching of
the law of Christ.
the
New
Ilstamenl,
213
The
circumstances of the times ren
necessary to support large numbers out of the common fund, precisely as you yourselves do when a
dered
it
strike takes
place.
In their zeal large numbers of the
converts sold their possessions for the purpose of contri What Ananias did was that he professed buting to this. to give up the whole, and thus to entitle himself to sup
port from the fund, whereas he only surrendered a part The epistle of St. James of the proceeds of the sale.
was only designed

then ceased.
proves that the state of things mentioned by St. Luke It had to serve a temporary purpose.
Again, many of the precepts of the New Testament are uttered in opposition to some corrupt moral principle then extensively prevalent, or are addressed to men under par
ticular circumstances ; to take
an instance, that given to the
young ruler. What is there in the context to imply that it was intended for any other purpose than to test him, or that it was designed for universal application? All such pre cepts no doubt involve a great moral principle which is of
rich
universal obligation
but
it is
simply absurd mechanically
to apply the mere letter of a precept to all states and con ditions of mankind. Against this practice the New Testa
ment emphatically protests.
To do
so
is
to imitate those
quacks, You will probably medicine, able to cure every malady. I ask, How are we to determine when this is the case ?
answer.
who pretend
that they have found out a universal
By the
;
use of a
little
common
sense and
its
common
and
candour
viewing
by entering
into the spirit of
teaching,
subordinate parts in relation to it. I need hardly say, that this is necessary to enable us to get hold the meaning of every writer.
its
<?f
214
?h e
Alleged Difficulties in the
New
But you will Testament
object,
utterly discourage saving ?
Does not the teaching of the Does it not

provision for the future
"
absolutely forbid us to
make
What can you
say to such a precept as this,
Consider
"
the ravens, which have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?
Yes, truly, we are much better than the ravens. We possess reason and foresight, which they do not, and this makes all the difference. God provides for both men
and ravens within the range of
The
it, is
their respective faculties. raven, according to the faculties which God has given
provided
for.
for within the range
In a similar way man shall be provided of his. This forms a good reason
with anxiety for the
why men should not be devoured

future
It were but none for taking no care about it. ; absurd to argue because God provides for a raven to whom
has given no faculty like foresight, that therefore will provide for men, to whom He has given it, What the speaker in and who neglect to use it.
He He
tended to teach
is
in providence, after
the great truth that we ought to trust we have used the best faculties which
God
has given
it
us.
But
will
be urged, that the precepts respecting alms
giving are
without the smallest limitation.
They
If
say
nothing about looking out for deserving objects. numerous other duties in the New Testament.
So are
all
the qualifying circumstances had been inserted, the book would have been swollen into a library. The duties are
strenuously affirmed, and each individual is the details by the aid of common sense
lefc
to fill up and an en
lightened Christian judgment.
Moral leaching of
But
it
the
New
Testament.
will
be objected, the charge has not been met

is
that Christian teaching
prudent saving, and that

capital impossible.
First.
antagonistic to the principle of it renders the accumulation cl
I reply
is
The New Testament teaches that a man
bound
to act as
God s
steward, in whatever position in society
he may be placed by providence. This is distinctly recognised in the parables of the Talents, the Pounds, All waste is strongly dis and the Unjust Steward.
couraged.
Idleness
is
forbidden.
Diligence in business
So is laying by for charitable is expressly commanded. is making a suitable provision for a man s So purposes.
family.
It
was needless
for
it
to teach directly the dut}
of accumulating capital, for the desire to do so is one o: the strongest in human nature; so strong is it, that instead of requiring encouragement, there is the greatest
danger of
ciple.
its
absorbing every noble and generous prin
Secondly. Christian teaching wages an internecine war 1 against those vices which tempt men to extravagance.
need not draw your attention to them, for their injurious consequences no one can mistake. They are the fruitful It also in the most sources of the misery of mankind. emphatic manner enjoins moderation in all things. li then its injunctions were obeyed, we should see an end o: Savings would be as large as misery, squalor, and rags. the political economist could desire, and the most ample
fund provision made for providing the requisite wages Get rid of these vices, practice the opposite virtues, and all the supposed collision between Christian teaching
and
social
science will
cease
all
its
demands
will
be
2i6
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
complied with, and in addition society
will
have at
its
command
all
the resources necessary for the exercise of
the benevolent affections.

I cannot here help noticing a charge
which Mr.
Newman
brings against Christ
and His apostles
as being mendicants.
This
voting
is
simply invidious.
their
lives
I
They
are described as de
Is
it
to
the
work of doing good.

by labouring with one
s
mendicancy,
doing
so,
ask, to receive a simple

to eke this out
?
maintenance
for
and
hands, as St. Paul did

lecturing, a mendicant
Is every popular lecturer
own who
receives maintenance for devoting himself to the

?
work of
is nothing therefore in the principles of the Testament, if these were fully, and not partially carried out, which is adverse to such reasonable accu
There
New
mulation as
is
requisite for the purposes of social progress.
I say emphatically,
if they
for
it
were
is
Jitlly,
and
not merely
partially, carried out ;
not possible to form a
judgment of any system by dwelling only on one its teaching. Let its teaching respecting benevo lence, and its utter denunciation of the vices tending to extravagance be set sidebyside, and then estimate theresult.
correct
half of
Selfishness in
man
is
exerts all
feelings.
its
efforts to call into activity
It therefore pre-eminently strong. our benevolent
no
is
principle founded
That numbers of evils exist in the world which on self-love can adequately meet
It
no
theory, but a fact.
addresses
itself
strongly to
is
those principles of our nature, whose proper function

to palliate those evils.
It
wages internecine war against
those vices which
impel
men
to
extravagance.
Its
demands of self-sacrifice
in the
work of doing good are one
Moral Teaching of
of
its
the
New
Testament.
strongest characteristics
in proportion as the evils of the

sacrifice of capital
but let it be observed world are got rid of, the
likewise.
necessary to effect this will diminish ask you not to survey one portion of the teaching of the New Testament without the other. I do not think that there are many persons in this room
I
will find fault
who
with the
is
New
Testament because
it
teaches that there
something
more
in
the relation
between the employer and the employed than a mere

pecuniary bargain, and that the mere inspection of the rate of wages in the labour market, is not the full dis In charge of the duties which they owe to each other.
portion of the subject, Mr. Newman is guilty of an incredible unfairness. He affirms that St. Paul teaches the
this
unqualified obedience of slaves to their masters, of child ren to their parents, and of wives to their husbands.
What
shall
we say of a
writer
who quotes a
line or
two
in
which such duties are enjoined, and omits even to no tice the context, which enjoins the duties correlative to
these.
It is perfectly true
that there
"
is
such a passage
in St.
Servants, obey in all things Here Mr. according to the flesh." your masters Newman stops. But the Apostle adds, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as doing the will of God
s
"
Paul
writings, as
from the heart ;
for
of
the
inheritance, for ye serve the
Lord ye shall receive the Lord Christ." The same

says he,
to
apostle has a very strong precept for masters, enjoining

their
corresponding duties.
is
is
"
Masters,"
"give
your servants that which

ye have a Master
just
and
who
in heaven,
respect of persons with
Him,"
knowing and there is no Faithful service on the

equal,
that
3i8
The Alleged
Difficulties in the
part of the employed ; just and equal treatment on the part of the employer, is St. Paul s golden rule to regulate
the relations between these two classes.
Do
you except
Is it not a far better one than the squeezing against it ? as much labour as possible out of the employed on the one hand, and the rendering the smallest amount of
loyal service as
he can
to the
employer on the other?
There
a morality in conducting an argument as well as in striking a bargain. What shall I say of a writer who affirms that St. Paul taught unlimited obedience
is
to servants,
and who has omitted

to give that
all
mention of
is
"just
his
teaching to masters,
"
which
and
equal
Mr. Newman also asserts that St. Paul teaches, without the smallest qualification, the duty of absolute submission of wives to husbands. Will it be believed that in the direct
context he has enjoined on husbands love their Christ has loved the Church, and has given Himself for ? Observe the last words, and gave Him
"to
"
wives, as
it"
self for
it"
As
Christ then gave His
life
for the
Church,
for the
so
it
is
the duty of the
husband
to give his
life
wife.
Yet
this writer affirms that St.

state.
view of the married

ing in
You
Paul held a degraded will mid no such teach
any work of ancient moralists. In the ancient world the wife was degraded into a chattel. The woman who flouted herself before the world s eye, and had
husband is to love and gave His life

be, to give his
life
comparative freedom was the courtezan. The Christian his wife as Christ loved the Church,
for her.
The
Christian
husband
if
is
therefore bound, not only to sacrifice himself, but

for his wife.
need
Where
will
you
find the
Moral Teaching of
the
New
Testament,
219
as rights of women so effectually vindicated
by
this teach
ing ; or the marriage union placed on so high an elevation? There are many other subjects which I would have
gladly treated of in this lecture, but my space is ex selection has been regulated by their im hausted.
My
portance.
have succeeded in showing that those I have discussed are devoid of any real foundation, or have arisen from misconception of the great principles on which the teaching of the New Testa
If I
difficulties
which
ment
based, the less important ones may be solved by the application of the same line of reasoning. I believe that
is
the great principles which I have laid
down are adequate to
meet every difficulty. I ask you first to ascertain what those principles are, and then to apply them to the investiga Above all, do not be tion of its subordinate details.
guilty of a course
a precept intended for one
so utterly unphilosophical, as to apply condition of society to a
wholly different one, or to except against one portion of its teaching, while you have utterly neglected to take into account the other, which is its legitimate complement.
Finally, let
me
observe that there
is
one portion of
Testament which the limits assigned to this lecture have only permitted me to To give it an effective treatment has been allude to.
the moral teaching of the
New
simply impossible.
Yet
its
it
constitutes
the
most
to the
dis
all-
tinguishing feature of
teaching.
I allude
important fact, that Christianity not only professes to lay down a number of moral principles, which are adequate
to guide man in every advancing stage of his civilization but to create a moral and spiritual power, which is able
;
to rescue unholy
men from
their unholiness,
degraded
220
Alleged Difficulties
>
men from
virtue
ness.
is
their degradation, and to elevate men whose imperfect to higher degrees of purity and good
this
Unless we keep
fact steadily in
view,
it
is
impossible to form a right estimate of its moral teaching. I repeat it, this forms its most distinguishing characteristic.
Philosophers sighed for such a power, but they found it not ; they left the degraded masses of mankind in their degradation, and contemplated their condition with de
spair.
The
lowest haunts of humanity formed the sub
They heard the ject of the special care of Jesus Christ. At His voice of no philosopher ; but they heard His. call multitudes have forsaken their evil ways, and have
striven to follow
Him. The
wisest, the best,
and the holiest
of men, have proclaimed Him their Master and their Lord. The influence which has been exerted by Jesus Christ has
all philosophers and moralists united. personal influence which has been brought to bear on the world has been equally mighty. In proof of this I adduce the authority of Mr. Lecky, in his History of
exceeded that of
No
tation I will conclude
Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne. With this quo It was reserved for Christianity
"
to present to the world

all
an ideal character, which through
the changes of eighteen centuries, has inspired the hearts of men with an impassioned love, and has shown
capable of acting on all ages, nations, temperaments, has not only been the highest pattern ; of virtue, but the highest incentive to its practice ; and
itself
and conditions
has exercised so deep an influence, that it may be truly said that the simple record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and soften mankind, than
all
the disquisitions of philosophers, and

"
all
the exhorta
tipns of moralists
THE COMBINATION OF UNITY WITH PROGRESSIVENESS OF THOUGHT IN THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE,
AN ARGUMENT
IN
FAVOUR OF DIVINE REVELATION.
BY
THE
REV.
^ iciir
J.
H.
TITCOMB,
M.A.,
Claphant*
oj SL
Stc
>i
j>/it
s,
SoutJl LainbctJi,
and Rural Dean of
Combination
tbeness
the
at ilnitin luith
of
thought
$ible,
in
f ffoks
IN
at the
AN ARGUMENT
FAVOUR OF DIVINE
REVELATION.
THERE
is
one element of consideration underlying
this
subject which is not at first sight conspicuous, I mean the element of time, or the fact of there having been an interval of at least one thousand years between the pub
lication of the earliest
birth of our
Old Testament literature and the Lord Jesus Christ. We who receive the
whole Scripture as containing an authentic revelation from God, of course believe this interval to have been
longer
view of the question now to be raised, is not of much consequence. For, even assuming that no portions of the Old Testa ment were written before the time of David or Solomon
;
but, in
that variation of opinion
(B.C. 1,000),
it
is
now admitted on
all
hands that many
very ancient documents must have been preserved to the times of the Hebrew monarchy ; and that notwithstand
ing the forms into which such documents were afterwards
Combination of Unity with Progressivetless

thrown, they must
feelings
faith and had not only dated historically from Abraham, but had looked back traditionally even into earlier and more remote periods. I do not enter, therefore, into any arguments about the authenticity of the books of Moses ; nor do I even
still
have enshrined the
of previous generations which
take for granted their Divine inspiration. I only lay down as the basis of my position, that the Old Testament Scriptures, whatever may have been the dates of their
various publication, practically represent the religious faith and hope of one continuous stream of people from
the time of
this
:
Abraham
it
to Christ.
Which
faith
was
briefly
that as
soon as the human race
first felt
the curse
and
had been cheered by a revelation from God, which promised it a final victory of good over evil, and of happiness over sorrow, by means of some coming Deliverer who should one day be born as the Seed of the
misery of
sin,
"
woman."
Upon
of
that simple thought the

first
Hebrew people
ever looked back as to the

first
bud of promise, and the
germ
sufferings
hope which had gladdened the world in its a hope which they had not only inherited
which had never ceased to be
from
their forefathers, but
the theme of a long series of sacred writers, whose litera
been Divinely inspired. gentlemen, to which I now desire to call your attention. I ask you to follow me in an argument by which I shall endeavour to show (i) that the Sacred
It is this fact,
ture professed to have
Scriptures contain a unity,
combined with progressive-
ness of thought, running over a prodigious lapse of time, making up one harmonious and perfect whole. I shall
then (2) inquire whether such a fact finds a single
of Tnought in the Books of the Bible.
225
And (3) counterpart in any other religion of the world. whether, taking all circumstances into consideration, the conviction is not forced upon us, that this must have
involved a great deal more than what was merely natural or human j and that the only solution of the
matter
left
to us
is
a belief of
its
having been really the
result of Divine Revelation.

I. Let us INQUIRE, WHETHER THERE is NOT A UNITY COMBINED WITH PROGRESSIVENESS OF THOUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES, RUNNING OVER A PRODIGIOUS LAPSE OF TIME, YET MAKING UP ONE HARMONIOUS AND PERFECT WHOLE.
We may
Doctrinally.
look at this
subject either Historically or
i. Regarding the Historical development of the pro mised Seed," it may be enough to say that the Hebrews dated a tradition of it from the beginning of human woe ;
"
believing that, however
much of this
idolatry
idea
may have been
gradually
overlaid
by
nevertheless, always to
and unbelief, it was, some minds the germ of a living
Mark you, I am not assuming this tradition to have been an actually supernatural revelation. I am only treating it now as a floating opinion which was
hope.
handed down from generation

view of tracing
growth. In the
first
it
to generation, with the

its
out briefly in regard to

will please to
historical
place, then,
you
observe that
hope belonged simply announced the coming of a human Redeemer, without the slightest reference either to time, or to place,
It
this traditional
to the
whole race of man.
or to family.
It
said that the
"
Seed of the
woman
"
226 The Combination of Unity with Progressiveness
From iii. 15). belief that this we Abraham, however, gather became handed down under a more limited form, inas much as the Promised Seed was then made a special gift
was to bruise the Serpent
the date of
s
head (Gen.
to that patriarch s house; the

"In
thee shall all families of the

xii. 3).
word of promise being earth be blessed"

if
(Gen.
Call this
hope
superstition
you
it
like, it
was, at any rate, the Hebrew belief. on, through Isaac and Jacob, until
tribes
passed we reach the twelve
And
so
and the kingdom of David ; when a revelation was alleged to have been given, announcing
of Israel,
that the covenant of
God
his
be inalienable,
"
arid
with that king s house should dynasty established for ever.
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy Seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His
kingdom.
will
He
vii.
shall build
an house
of His
for
My
the
name, and I
for
ever"
establish
the throne
12,
13).
kingdom
by,
(2
Sam.
By and
manner
in
Son of David was to make His appearance became still more distinctively marked. One prophet taught the Church that He would come out of Beth lehem But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou
which
this
"
be
little
among
shall
He come
;
"
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee forth unto Me, that is to be Ruler in
forth
Israel
whose goings
(Mic.
everlasting
v. 2).
have been from of old, from Another prophet announced that
the
monarchy which was to be overthrown by Babylon should continue to be humbled by its enemies till the
for
it
birth of this long looked
Ruler
"
I will overturn,
until
overturn, overturn
it
and
shall
be no more
He
of Thought in the Books of the Bible.
227
come whose
w give it Him Another prophet declared that when (Ezek. xxi. 27). He did come there would be a breaking up of the whole
right
it
is
and
will
"
Jewish nationality shall Messiah be cut

:
After threescore and
two weeks
off,
but not for Himself; and the
people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the

city
and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations In the same strain are determined (Dan. ix. 26).
"
spake Malachi, the last of the prophets abide the day of His coming ? And
"
But who
may
fire,
who
shall stand
when He appeareth?
and
like fullers soap.
;
For
He
is
like a refiner s
sit
And He shall
as a refiner
and
purifier of silver
and
He
shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver" (Mai. iii. 2, 3). At length, after 400 years, there appeared One in whom all these characteristics were alleged to have been combined.
Now,
were combined.
of course, as Christian believers, we feel sure they believe that Christ did come of
We
Abraham s
seed,
and of David
house
that
He was
born in Bethlehem, and at a time when the royal dynasty was in ruins ; and that the issue of His coming was the
actual destruction of Jerusalem, and the scattering of the nation, and the purging of the priesthood by fire.
As
for yourselves, gentlemen, all
wish to press upon
a long-con you, for the present, is this: that here is of one tinuous development idea, progressively evolved,
and harmoniously sustained by a number of

writers lasting from at least the time of
first
different
Abraham
to the
And just notice also how century of our own era. this unity of belief is expressed in the Gospel of

St.
Luke
"
Blessed be the Lord
God
of Israel
for
hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His
servant David
as He spake by the mouth of His holy ; have been since the world began that which prophets, we should be saved from our enemies, and from the
:
He
hand of all
to perform the mercy promised ; remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to our father Abraham (Luke i. I n other words, one continuous and pro 68-73).
to our fathers,
that hate us
and
to
"
hope is described as having travelled through a of about 2,000 years, living on freshly to the last, period with a permanence which was incapable of destruction.
gressive
2. I might have said very much more upon this part of the subject, but the whole question is so vast that I must hurry on rather to the Doctrinal hopes which
gathered around this promised Redeemer ; inasmuch as the preservation of those hopes, in their unity yet grow
ing fulness, throughout so long a period and by so many different witnesses, is one of the greatest human marvels.
According to the oldest tradition of the Hebrew

the Promised Seed was to be looked for as a
race,
Redeemer
from
sin
and
its
attendant curse.
Not a word, however,
was
at first stated as to the
quest should be effected. out gradually grouping themselves around three aspects of character, namely, the Prophetic, Kingly, and Priestly
offices.
means by which that con Those particulars were opened
am
afraid
it
will
be only on the two former of

time to enlarge.
ihese that I shall

First,
now have
view
then, let us
Him
in
His PROPHETIC or
TEACHING OFFICE,
of Thought in the
Books of the
Bible.
229
This was distinctly announced by Moses.
him
for although
you may deny
that
I say by Moses was the
actual
of the whole Pentateuch, yet you can that it was in the main a compilation of scarcely deny if not documentary, fragments which had traditionary,
penman
been handed down to the Church through that lawgiver. What, then, are the recorded or traditional words of
The Lord thy He says point ? God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto Him shall ye
Moses upon
this
"
hearken"
(Dent
xviii. 15).
Whether the
full
meaning
of those words was detected by the Hebrews at once, and the hope thereby engendered of any ultimate abro gation of the burdensome law through the coming in of
a greater Prophet who should bestow upon them a higher, holier, and more permanent covenant, we cannot
say
;
afterwards.
but certainly that view was gradually introduced For example, David hinted at it when he
"
"
described in the 4oth Psalm how burnt offering and sin were not to be required for ever ; and how One offering I delight to do Thy will, to come who should say
"
"jjas
O my
(Ps.
God, yea Thy law
is
within
my
heart.
have
preached
xl.
in the great congregation" righteousness 69). Isaiah brought it out still more clearly
"
when he
that the
said,
It shall
come
to pass in the last days

s
mountain of the Lord

into
house shall be estab
lished in the top of the mountains
..... and
all nations
:
shall
flow
it.
And many
Come
us go up ye, to the house of the God of Jacob

let
and
people shall go and say to the mountain of the Lord,

;
and
He
will teach us
:
of His ways, and we
will
walk in His paths
for out of

Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Is. ii. 2, 3). In other words, this promised
"
Prophet was to be, like Moses, a new lawgiver, teaching not only the Hebrews, but many nations also in the For which reason spirit of the freest possible education.
Joel, speaking, as
we
believe, in the
name
of the Lord,
said
"
And
it
shall
come
to pass afterwards that I will
pour out
I
My
Spirit
the servants and
upon all flesh upon the handmaids

Spirit"
Also upon
in those days will
pour out
My
(Joel
:
ii.
"
28).
And
afterwards
Behold the days come, Jeremiah, still more plainly saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of
shall
Israel,
and with the house of Judah.

I will
This
be the covenant that

:
make
with the house of
Israel
After those days, saith the Lord, I will put

part,
My
"
law in their inward
and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people shall So in an earlier chapter: (Jer. xxxi. 31, 33).
"It
come
more
shall
to pass in those days, saith the Lord, they shall no

say,
it
The ark of the covenant of the Lord neither come to mind neither shall they remember it.
;
;
At
that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered into it, in the name
Lord" Could any truth, then, be 16, 17). (iii. more continuously evolved through successive centuries than this ? If Moses said that the coming Prophet was to be a lawgiver like himself, and Isaiah that He should
of the
give His law from Jerusalem to all nations (i.e. the Gen the picture by proclaiming it, tiles), Jeremiah enlarged
not only a new covenant, but so new that the ancient ark, as a symbol of their then worship, should be known
cf Thought in the Books of the Bible.
231
In other words, the whole basis of their no more. It was no longer to be repre was to be altered. worship sented by one local symbol, and to be confined to the
Hebrew people, but to consist in the worship of God by the whole Gentile world, based upon a perfectly new
changed this new dispensation was new Prophet, Malachi also made known From the 200 years after Jeremiah, when he said rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every
dispensation.
to
How
be under
this
"
place incense
shall
be offered unto Me,
saith the
Lord
of Hosts
(Mai. i. 1 1). Four hundred more years passed after Malachi, and yet this doctrinal hope of the away You may not believe the coming Prophet survived.
"
testimony of the Gospels as to the miracles of Jesus. But granting even that those miracles were never per
formed and that the Jews who thought so were mere

credulous enthusiasts, still their exclamation, "This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world"
(St. John vi. 14), exhibits the survival of a strong national hope upon this subject. At any rate, the New Testa ment covenant, as it has actually been handed down to
us, is in
wonderful accordance with this long-continued development of Old Testament thought. Believers or unbelievers, Christians or infidels, no one can fail to see that New Testament thought here fits into Old Testa
ment thought with

a well-made key
the
fits
it
into a
and
the
that although
same propriety and neatness that complex and elaborate lock was the work of many centuries, yet
from
first
hope and
its
fulfilment were,
to
last,
coherent.
232 The Combination of Unity with Progressivensss

Secondly,
let
us
now view
this
promised
Hope
of Israel
in relation to
His KINGLY
office.
For some reasons
this should, perhaps,
have come
first,
inasmuch as the primeval tradition of Eden, which is recorded in the book of Genesis (viz., that the Seed of
the
should bruise the Serpent s head), funda the idea of an universal dominion over involved mentally the powers of evil. That is to say, it embodied the
belief that as
woman
man had
ruined his
own
race,
so
One
of that race should hereafter rise up to extricate and deliver it from ruin. Hence the thought of conquest
and kingship had been an underlying element in this traditional hope of a coming Redeemer, even from the Abraham (e.g.) had beheld Him as blessing beginning. the whole human family (Gen. xii. 3) ; Jacob as gathering
the nations under one great dominion (Gen. xlix. 10); and Balaam as smiting down all the opposition of his enemies (Numb. xxiv. 17). In this way the picture was
unfolded with unswerving

the prophets.
fidelity
"
through
all
the roll of
Isaiah said
;
upon His shoulders
The government shall be and His name shall be called Won

:
derful, Counsellor, the
the Prince of Peace.
mighty God, the everlasting Father, Of the increase of His government
and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from hence
forth
raise
Jeremiah said I will (Is. ix. 6). unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall
:
"
even for ever
"
in
reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice I will the earth Ezekiel said (Jer. xxiii. 5).
"
set
up one Shepherd over them, and
He
shall feed them,
233
even
shall
my
be
servant David
their
Shepherd
God, and
My
He shall feed them, and He and I the Lord will be their servant David a prince among them
;
;
"
(Ezek. xxxiv. 23).
Daniel said
"Behold
one
like the
Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near And there was given Him dominion, and before Him. and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and lan glory, serve Him His dominion is an everlasting should guages dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom
:
that
which
shall
not be destroyed
"
(Dan.
vii.
13).
The
same symbolically, when he a stone cut out without hands smiting the represented image upon his feet and breaking it to pieces ; and same prophet
also stated the
"
"
In the days of these kings then interpreted it thus shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall
"
never be destroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume
all
the kingdoms,
44).
and
it
shall stand for ever
"
(Dan.
ii.
34,
Zechariah
also
said
"
Rejoice greatly,
daughter of Zion
hold thy King
shout, ; daughter of Jerusalem, be cometh unto thee ; He is just and
having salvation ; He shall speak peace unto the heathen, and His dominion shall be from sea to sea (Zee. ix. 9).
"
How
strongly these hopes
still
at the time of Christ s appearing
abode among the Jews no one can doubt. We
do not need
the
the New Testament to prove this, because whole bulk of ancient Jewish literature does so. Whether, therefore, those words recorded by St. Luke
were a true revelation from God or not, they were, at any rate, an embodiment of the national belief.
234 The Combination of Unify with Progrcssiveness

be great, and shall be called the Son of the and the Lord God shall give unto Him the Highest, throne of His father David and He shall reign over the
"
He
shall
house of Jacob for ever ; and of His kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke i. 32, 33). Now this is all I want
for my present purpose. I am simply pressing on your attention the fact that one living hope of a coming King
had been nursed among the Hebrew race from the beginning, and that not a single, epoch in its history can be pointed to in which that thought had ever been
I will not say that every feature in the lost sight of. prophetic portrait of this King was equally nursed up to the last moment in the national heart. For it was with
the Jews as with most of ourselves ; they clung to what was joyous and pleasant, but ignored the painful and David had first brought out to view the unpropitious.
that just as his own pathway to the crown of Zion had been opened through sufferings and persecutions, so the promised King of the ideal David of his own house Israel, could only be exalted to the throne of Zion in the same manner. This was the picture in the 2nd Psalm Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine
fact,
:
"
a vain thing
The
kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord Yet have I set My and against His Anointed hill of Zion." The same idea came King upon My holy
out in other Psalms, such as the 22nd, which
"
said
They pierced
My
hands and
My
feet.
They
part
My
"
garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture 1 words which, never having been personally 8) (ver. 1 6,
fulfilled
in David, are necessarily held as prophetic of
of Thought in the Books of the Bible,
235
David s
in the
ideal
n8th Psalm which

is
the promised King of Israel ; and no less "The stone which the said
:
builders refused
(ver. 22).
become the Head stone of the corner

till
"
"
Not, however,
the time of Isaiah was the
whole picture openly manifested. My Servant shall He shall be exalted and extolled deal prudently
;
"
(Is. Hi.
"
13).
Nevertheless,
grow up
ground."
as a tender plant
was added it He shall and as a root out of a dry

:
He
must be
"
"
bruised
to
;;
and
"
put to
grief,"
and be brought
His
mouth"
as a
lamb
is
sheep before her shearers

(Is.
liii.
the slaughter, and as a dumb, so He opened not
2, 7,
10).
Thus
the exaltation and
glory of the Redeemer s kingship were to be preceded Only by the antagonism of an unrighteous world. through the pathway of suffering could He finally and
effectually
world
overcome the powers of evil, and redeem the from its sufferings on account of sin. Daniel Messiah shall be cut off, but not same said the thing
itself
"
for
"
Himself"
(Dan.
ix.
26).
Zechariah also repeated
it
sword, against My Shepherd, and against Awake, the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered
(Zech.
xiii.
"
7).
If time allowed
I say,
other texts might be
quoted.
These were points,
which, though
plainly-
painted in the sacred writings as part
and parcel of
the
professed revelations of God, were yet neglected and forgotten by the nation at the appearing of Christ,
because
Nevertheless,
of apprehension. difficult only calmly read the New Tes tament, you will see that the teaching of the Gospels exactly harmonised with these pictures of the Redeemer s
unpalatable
if
and
you
will

kingship. For without entering into any critical question as to the credibility of the claim, it is undoubted and certain that the Jesus of the Evangelists did claim to be
that He was opposed by a ; and rejected alike by the heathen and persecuting world, rulers that His hands and feet were pierced, and ; Jewish His garments divided among His enemies ; that He was bruised," and put to grief; "that the Shepherd was smitten, and His sheep scattered; and that He did claim to come forth as conqueror of Death, and after wards to be exalted to the throne of Zion. And on that
Israel s
promised King
"
"
throne
we
Christians believe
Him
:
to
"
be
still
resting
Sit according to another prophecy right hand, till I make Thine enemies
thou
on
My
"
Thy
footstool
(Ps. ex. i).

I regret
that I have only time to take
points, viz.,
the
long looked for ment. They do but form parts of a mighty subject which would rather require a volume to unfold than
up these two and offices of this Prophetic Kingly as illustrations of Redeemer, my argu
a lecture.
behind.
Yet they are enough to indicate what remains
They show how one continuous stream
of ever
developing but united thought went sweeping on through
and how accurately those hopes harmonised the doctrinal and historical teaching of the
successive generations in the shape of. predicted hopes; at last with
New
Testa
ment
in reference to
Him who
claimed to have appeared
as the promised Redeemer.
Now mark, gentlemen, I am not asking you to believe He was your Redeemer because the Evangelists say so nor yet because tKcy tell you that He proved His
that
;
237
commission by miracles ; nor because we assert th Gospels to have been really written by the men whose
names they bear ; nor because the Church of Christ has handed them down to us with an authority which demands
our faith. You may smile as much as you please at all You may stamp these points of Christian evidence. upon them, and tread them under foot as you like. But
this you cannot deny: that for a thousand years or more the Hebrew race, as exhibited in the various writings of the Old Testament, held to one great hope ever the same, yet ever expanding which hope became
accurately re-exhibited in the writings of the New Testa ment as having been actually fulfilled. The wonderful extent to which that fulfilment goes
all night, especially if I applied it to the of the law of Moses, and to the way ceremonial typical in which the recorded life, death, and resurrection of
might occupy us
Christ
satisfied
its
the
moral purport of that

abrogation.
explained
final
hour expressly
for that subject, I
law, and Could we employ one might show you how

all
the Christian doctrine of redemption interprets
the
sacerdotalism of the Mosaic institutions, and explains their hidden meaning with a beauty and perspicuity which are marvellous. Whether that doctrine be true or All I contend for is false is not now under debate.
that, taking
it
as
it
is
written,
it
fits
like
a golden key
into the ceremonial ordinances of the
Old Testament, and harmonises with that faith and hope which had been been in gradually developing among a people who had
professed covenant with
God
for at least 2,000 years 01
more
previously.

II.
TO THIS
Let us now INQUIRE WHETHER ANYTHING SIMILAR CAN BE FOUND IN CONNECTION WITH OTHER
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD.

(i.)
Take ancient Egypt
for
example.
It
Is
true
there existed in that country a pantheon or assemblage of gods and goddesses, which lasted for 3,000 years.
So
far,
we
allow, there
of thought in its religion. ness of thought in it.
was a certain well sustained unity But there was no progressive-
There was not the vaguest
semblance of any historical or prophetic belief in a coming Person who should embody in Himself the hope
and happiness of all nations, and who should ultimately bring back the world into an universal empire of peace,
love,
and righteousness.
Thoughts and hopes
like those
had never entered
into the religion of
any other country
upon the
were
face of the globe, except Palestine ; still less they ingrained into a sacred literature, which (always consistent with the expression of such thoughts
and hopes) went on century after century in portraying them with increasing minuteness, and with growing
fulness.
If
you
tell
us that
among
the philosophers of
ancient Greece and
Rome
there was, notwithstanding,
great progressiveness of thought,

all
we reply Yes, because a seeking after truth ; and where philosophy implies truth is honestly searched after, there cannot but be
more or
less
of mental progress.
But, on
little
the
other
hand, those philosophers exhibited the midst of their progressiveness.
no unity in Some of them be

or
lieved in the mythological deities of their country, and some did not. Some began their search after truth by
the study
of external
nature; others by denying the

reality of matter.
239
Some held
that
were one
others
that God and the universe God and the universe were
eternally distinct.
Some
no
interest in the affairs of
believed that the Divinity took men ; others just the opposite.
It would be endless to narrate the utter incoherences which separated even the best of these philosophers
from one another, through the different centuries during which they flourished. Scarcely any truth of importance
was
sive
settled
and
fixed.
And
as for writings
which were
homogeneous
in
in the texture of their thought, or progres
their descriptions
of even one religious belief
respecting the future, you might search on for ever with out discovering them. No one pretends to do so. All
those religions or philosophical productions were just what you might have expected them to be as the mere
Many of them were and even noble. But they were continually discordant and hostile to each other ; bear ing marks upon their very forefront that they were the outcome of independent minds and judgments, without any supernatural inspiration to weld them together into one common web. What shall we say of China, whose authentic (2.)
offspring of natural enlightenment.
acute, subtle, refined,
annals far exceed in duration those of ancient Greece or
Rome stretching back from the present moment to about the seventh century before Christ? In some
respects the religion of this great empire is more like that of ancient Egypt than of Greece or Rome, and is
analogous even to that of the Hebrews. For it possesses a sacred literature ; it has inherited holy books. The
first
of these books, the Yih-king,
is
a mysterious
treatise
24
The Combination of Umty with Progressiveness

universe,
upon the nature of the

elements in creation.
is
and the action of the
more
historic.
The second, called the Shu-king, The third, called the She-king, is
most part moral and ethical. book of rites and manners, pre
Confucius, the second founder
chiefly lyrical,
and
for the
Another
is
the Li-ki, or
scribing rules for society.
of the Chinese state religion, revived the teaching of these old books, and established them on a firmer basis,
upon which basis they still rest. One thing is certain, however, in the midst of all this unity of purpose viz., that, from first to last, it was simply utilitarian and materialistic; rejecting everything which could not be
comprehended by the natural understanding.
It
was
pre-eminently an appeal to reason, subordinated to the ivants and welfare of society a system in which the
emperor was the fountain-head of order, and the parental

relationship
its
living soul.
You
unity
will see, then, that while the sacred literature of
China possessed a certain amount of social and ethical within itself, yet it was essentially fixed and
stationary. It admitted of no new development, and never looked out beyond the world of sense and sight. It lacked the intellectual progressiveness of Grecian thought, be
cause
it
tied
men down
to the rigid rules of sacred
books
which were, after all, more political than religious, and which were so completely utilitarian as to choke all There was nothing, there imagination and speculation.
fore,
analogous in
this
country to the
Hebrew
literature,
whose sacred books were not only much more numerous, but, while social, political, and ethical, like the Chinese,
were also
full
of enthusiastic hopes prophetical of the
time to come.
241
is
(3.)
Let us turn
it is,
now
to
Buddhism.
If this
not
the oldest
widest-spread religion of the world ; not perhaps geographically, but numerically without a doubt. It boasts of three hundred millions of
at
any
rate, the
disciples.
It too
can boast of
its
the Vinaya,
and Abhidharma.
sacred books, such as the Sutras, But, like the Chinese
books, they are without any elements of a future hope for this world ; still less of a hope which was continually getting more and more definite with increasing years.
There
of
is
Buddhism
but one idea of supreme happiness in the creed Nirvdna ; i.e., deliverance from existence
into a state of impenetrable apathy, or absolute annihiLv
With the deepest convictions of present wretched ness in the world, the only ultimate hope which it sets before man is extrication from the bonds of individuality.
tion.
True, there
attention
cultivation
is
much
the
that
is
noble, mild,
and
of
lofty in its
;
to
charities
and
duties
life
in
its
meekness, forgiveness of injuries, and But, speaking of it as resignation under suffering. containing a creed for the future, what parallel is there
of
between
ture ? as that
its
sacred books with those of

latter, in full
Hebrew
Scrip
The
view of the same wretchedness
Buddhism contemplated, were always and developing the portrait of one living expanding
which
Person who should come to deliver the world from
its
teacher after teacher rising up to fresh touch to the picture, which made its
suffering
add some
historical
fulfilment
more cpmplex and former, on the other hand, had no hope

all
the
difficult.
The
to
communicate
j
concerning a living Person
who was
to
come
nothing 16

that could
be brought to the test of an actual historical proof ; nothing which could be proved or disproved by identification with the predicted delineations of previous teachers. Anything of that kind was as much unknown
among
the
Buddhists
as
it
had
been
among
the
Confucians of China, or the old Egyptians, and Greeks
and Romans.
(4.)
Was
it
different
with
Brahminism
its
in
Hindus
tan
This religion can boast indeed of

is
sacred books
the Vedas, the Puranas, the Shastras.
But what unity

is
of thought
gressiveness
there are
there in
them
There
we
allow, but
little
unity.
plenty of proIn the Vedas
prayers and hymns addressed to the powers of nature, which exhibit noble thoughts, repre senting the Brahmin seeking after nearer approaches to
many
the Divine Spirit In the subsequent Puranas, and other sacred books, however, we pass on to deities and At immoralities which it is shameful even to think of.
one time worship

is
is
given to
Brahma
at
another time
it
superseded by Vishnu worship ; then comes the stern and cruel Siva worship ; and out of all has followed a pantheon in which deities may be reckoned by the
million.
The
voice of such a religion
is
truly a testi
mony
some sort and the contents of all these books doubtless embody, with more or less of fulness,
to the inner cravings of
mankind
after
of revelation from
God
the longing of the the unseen world.
human
heart to have converse with
In the Avatars, or incarnations of
Vishnu, for example who is represented in the Bhagavat Gita to say As often as there is a decline of virtue, and an Insurrection of vice in the world, I make myself
"
of Thought in the Books of the Bible,
243
evident
and thus
appear from age to age
for the pre
servation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of virtue," we see a faint trace of
is
Yet what comparison something like the Hebrew hope. there between the two, when you examine the literature
?
of these religions in detail

trace Monotheistic
hope and
rising
In the earliest Vedas you In the latter aspirations.
books you have hope

grossest Polytheism.
And
if
up for man through the Vishnu be represented in
these books as revealing himself from time to time for

the world s good, yet
what continuity of thought com

is
bined with progressiveness of portraiture
ever given
by successive Hindoo writers respecting his appearance, through two thousand years or more before his arrival, followed also by an historical narrative of that appear
ance, in broad
his portrait ?
to
harmony with such
forecast outlines of
look for
None but a madman would attempt even In the Hebrew theology alone do we it.
any such phenomenon. Just where all the future of hope for a world of sin and sorrow is, in other religions,
find
at the best vague,
it
is
clear
and
distinct.
its
shadowy, and undefined, in the Bible Mind, I am not saying at pre

utterances were
supernaturally in
events, those utterances for centuries
sent that these

spired.
But, at
all
went on expanding with a growing breadth and definitiveness, which cannot be gainsaid ; and they stand out
now amongst
isted
the religions of the world as absolutely separate from anything and everything which ever ex
by their side. Having said thus much,
let
us
III.
INQUIRE, WHETHER, TAKING ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

INTO CONSIDERATION, THE CONVICTION IS NOT FORCED UPON US THAT THIS FACT MUST HAVE INVOLVED A GREAT
DEAL MORE THAN WHAT WAS MERELY NATURAL OR HUMAN, AND THAT THE ONLY SOLUTION OF THE MATTER LE r T TO US IS A BELIEF IN ITS HAVING BEEN REALLY THE RESULT OF DIVINE REVELATION.
First.
As
to the
Fact
itself,
which divides
itself
into
three parts.
(i.) There are thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, which were certainly all in existence in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, nearly two hundred years before Christ. The most unbelieving critic does not deny this. It
is
as
the British
(2.)
the reign of Queen Victoria. Assuming (for the sake of argument) that these thirty-nine books were not all necessarily written by the
much an historical truth Museum Library in
as that of the existence of
authors to
whom
they are popularly assigned,
it
is
never
theless perfectly incontrovertible that they represent the
progressive faith and hope of one continuous stream ot people from the time of Abraham to Christ. Allowing, for example, that the Pentateuch was only finally
thrown into
the
its
Hebrew monarchy
which
it
present form during the latest age of the it is nevertheless confessed, even by
critics,
most remorseless of
is
that
to
the
materials of
composed belonged
various
antecedent
ages, running
back through many ancient documents
and
traditions.
Some
of those accounts
maybe
rejected
by unbelievers as fabulous ; the belief in a coming Personal Redeemer, which they nursed within the Hebrew race, may be laughed at as superstition their
;
miraculous dements
may
all,
for
the
time
being, be

obliterated
245
; yet it is acknowledged that they still embalm the remains of an actual faith and hope which never
became extinguished
(3.)
in Israel.
this religious
It
was the peculiarity of
Hebrews not only

one
living Personal
to fix itself steadily
hope of the on the coining of

their
Redeemer, who should through
race bring in salvation for the entire world, but to be gradually confirmed and enlarged by a succession of
and by a variety of distinct methods, at what should happen extremely hazardous, and any accurate fulfilment more and more
religious teachers,
which made any guesses

improbable. This fact,
like
maintain, constitutes a
phenomenon un
The Hence
fact.
(i.)
anything else in the religious history of the world. more so when we look minutely into the whole case.
a few words further.
Secondly.
As
to the
CIRCUMSTANCES which
attend this
The people who
so tenaciously clung
to this
growing hope were subject to the greatest vicissitudes of fortune. Mind, I am not relying at
fixed yet
present
Hebrew Hebrew
upon any of the miraculous elements of the narrative, but only on that plain outline of
history which
is
so abundantly confirmed
by
I do profane authors, and by monumental remains. not stay to inquire how this people got into the land of
history undoubtedly finds them them there established as a strong monarchy. It finds them there closely attacked by foreign enemies, and afterwards carried for a long period
Canaan.
there.
Authentic
finds
It
of exile into the heathen empire of Babylon.
It finds
them again restored to and discouraged by new
their
foes.
own
land, but distressed
It finds
them there
alike
ravaged by the Greeks and Romans, and reduced into a miserable state of vassalship to the latter power.
Nevertheless, throughout all these political changes we see the same great hope abiding in the national heart. Nor is that hope stationary. Instead of being suppressed
it
rises
higher,
and expands more
fully,
and becomes
portrayed with more and more of minuteness.

(2.)
The
writers
who developed
kings, priests,
all
this
hope were men
of various orders
prophets, statesmen
herdsmen.
Yet with
these antecedent grounds for
expecting their witness to be different, it was practically the same. Separated as they were from each other by education, by position, by modes and habits of thought,
and by variations in national experience, they all had in view the same living picture of one coming Redeemer ; and without variation or contradiction they painted Him
in colours of increasing brightness.
of the points brought out in this developed were of the most strikingly practical charac portraiture
(3.)
ter, admitting of the plainest possible refutation, sup posing the result should not agree therewith. Moreover, His times was this picture of the living Man and
Some
confessedly finished off and stereotyped about 200 years before the time when a new set of writers proclaimed
person of Jesus Christ. In the prolonged unity, therefore, of this wonderful chronicle of predicted hope, there was a wide front of thought open
its
fulfilment
in
the
to the charge of misconception
and error if events should
not correspond with the description.
of Thought
the
Books of the Bible.
247
Fully 250 years after the time of Antiochus (4.) Epiphanes, when every one admits the thirty-nine books
of the
fully
Old Testament had been
written,
it
is
now most
conceded, even by infidel writers like Renan and others, that St. Paul wrote the epistles to the Romans,
Galatians,
and Corinthians, containing many
historical
For allusions to the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. was that all exclude I will argument sake, therefore,
miraculous in these
epistles,
and take up only those

fact.
points which belong to simple and actual

treat
I will
them
for the
moment,
that
is
to say, as merely
human
to
compositions, and see
how
far
they bear witness
what you may be pleased to call the surmises of the Old Testament writers. Not to be too diffuse, let me name only three points of these singularly clear and undoubted harmony between
epistles
and the Old Testament

St.
teaching
previously
referred to.
(i.)
Paul here declares
it
to
be the belief of the
Church, that although Christ was of the seed of David,

the long promised
(Rom.
(2.)
i.
rejected
King of the Old Testament prophets that He had been despised and by His own nation (i Cor. ii. 8, and i. 23).
2,
3),
yet
He
by
believers
spiritual
shows that Christ was not only acknowledged in His Prophetic office (i.e. as a great had teacher), but that the result of His teaching
introduced them into a

certain
new
old Jewish ordinances
covenant, under which Circumcision and (e.g.
the Passover)
vi.
12, 15
been
set
had disappeared as obligatory (Gal. v. 2, 6 j Cor. v. 7, 8), and the law of Moses had aside for a new Gospel dispensation where
i
24827/
Combination of Unity with ProgressivenesS
Gentiles stood as
x.
welcome
as
Jews (Rom.
ix.
24-30
12, 13
(3.)
xv. 16).
He
in the course of actually breaking
teaches that this changed dispensation was up the whole Jewish
nationality
it all
(Rom. xi. 7-10), and of thus bringing upon the woes predicted by the prophets circumstances which, I need not say, were fulfilled in the destruction
"
of Jerusalem by Titus, and in the scattering peeling" of the people through the whole world.
and
Here then were, at least, three undeniable facts, entirely removed from the region of myth or miracle, three actual and historical circumstances which were as
plainly authentic as
any that were ever recorded by the pen of a contemporary writer. And these three facts, moreover, were in absolute harmony with certain Old
to
Testament statements made from 200

before they happened.
I
2,000 years
have mentioned only these
three,
because time alone
allows of it; otherwise I might have adduced more. But taking these three as sufficient for my purpose, I
now ask you
to rise
up and account
for this unity
com
bined with progressiveness of thought, running on through 2,000 years and more, and all winding up harmoniously
in the historical Christ just as
it had been portrayed, on any other principle than that of Divine Revelation. You have already seen that there was nothing like it
in
for
any other religion of the world.

this
What, then, accounts

the
religion
unique phenomenon
is
it
in
of the
Hebrews ? How Old Testament

the
first
that in
the sacred books of the
separated, at least, by 200 years from there authentic books of the New Testament
oj Thought in the
Books of
the Bible.
249
is
both
one golden thread of thought which runs on through one great hope predicted, and then fulfilled ; one ;
web of events prophetically announced, and afterwards as plainly woven together into actual history ? I ask you, gentlemen, to account for this by any natural
distinct
law of human probabilities.

Consider,
first,
that
in
the
ordinary phases
and
(subject as they are to all sorts of disturbing elements from rival schools of teachers,
changes of
human thought
and from
different
idiosyncracies of mind)
in
this
unity
and continuity of hope
one coming Redeemer, throughout many centuries, would be naturally most improbable. Assuming there was no external revelation, and that nothing gave rise to such a style of writing
except the inspiration
misings of
of
human
I
genius,
and the
sur-
ask you to account for imagination, this uniformity of witness to one thought, and for the gradual development of this one prophetic portrait
men s
through successive centuries, without any mutual con tradiction or incoherence. As I have remarked before,
men of various orders, and of different and belonged to a nation whose political and religious life was subject to many convulsions. Every thing, therefore, was calculated to disturb their unity of sentiment. Yet nothing broke it. If you can produce one single case even approaching to such a phenomenon
these writers were
dates
in
any other
know you
we will we maintain cannot,

religion,
say no
it
more
but as
we
to
be a marvel of mental
unanimity which, in itself, so reaches the miraculous as to be only capable of explanation upon the supposition of its having resulted from the gift of Divine Revelation.

This, at least,
better.
is
our explanation.
We
ask you to find a
The
case, nevertheless,
becomes stronger
very
much
stronger
when you consider
of sentiment in relation to this
Secondly. That there was not merely a correspondence Promised Hope of Israel
between the books of the Old Testament and the first authentic books of the New Testament, notwithstanding an agitated interval of two or three hundred years ; but
that there
diction
of actual events relating
was also a perfect agreement between the pre to Him in the one, and the
fulfilment of such events in the other. You will remember that, to meet your own objections, I have eliminated all the miraculous elements of Scrip
ture
;
and
that I
have placed no weight in
my
argument
upon the necessary authenticity of the Old Testament I have taken them, for the moment, as mere records.
compositions, which, somehow or other, no matter by whom, were confessedly written at different periods of Hebrew history, and were gathered at all
human
events into one sacred canon by the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, or nearly 200 years before the birth of Jesus
Christ.
seen that the
Even on this naked basis, however, you have Old Testament records pledged their
viz., veracity to the fulfilment of three coming events (i) That the Redeemer when He appeared would be
opposed and persecuted, and rejected and slain by His own people. (2) That the result of His ministerial
teaching would be to introduce a new covenant, by which the law of Moses would be set aside for a new
dispensation, granting equal privilege to the Gentiles as

to the Jews.
251
would have the

ality.
You
this changed dispensation breaking up the Jewish nation have also seen, on the authority of four New
effect of
is
And
(3) that
Testament books, whose authenticity

admitted,
written
now
about 250 years
after
universally the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes, that those events were in the Now those course of an actual historical fulfilment.
events were not miraculous.
You cannot
treat
them as
still
myths.
call
They
are ordinary historical events
which
remain uncontradicted and indisputable.
We
therefore
upon you to give us some reasonable explanation, upon natural grounds and on human laws of probability, for this wonderful harmony between the events as pre dicted and the events as fulfilled. To do this you will be driven to one or other of the
three
following alternatives either ( i ) to prove that these sayings of the Old Testament have no proper application to the coming of a Redeemer; or (2) that, if
:
they had, they were only the surmisings of genius

forecasts of penetrating
the
minds as
to future probabilities,
which were strangely and unexpectedly brought about by a series of lucky coincidences ; or (3) that being mere
guesses
and speculations, subsequent events were so moulded by Christ and His apostles as purposely to
bring about the fulfilment of them. If you take \hzfirst of these alternatives, then I con
front
you with a
literary difficulty.
For
it
runs clean
contrary to the whole current of the most ancient Jewish Take the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, for interpretation. example, the Messianic interpretation of which was only
abandoned by
later
Rabbis, such as Abenezra, Jarchi,
252 The Combination of Unity with ProgressivenesS

It was only the late* and Abarbanel. Gesenius says this who abandoned no doubt in Jews interpretation
"
consequence of their controversies with the Christians." This is the interpretation, for instance, in the Chaldee
Paraphrast
to
it.
And
"
even some of the

Alschech, in his
later
Rabbis assent
that
Thus Rabbi
:
commentary on
chapter says old Rabbis have unanimously admitted that king Messiah In a similar manner is here the subject of discussion."
Upon
the testimony of tradition, our
Jonathan Ben Uzziel, the author of the Chaldee Targum, who lived a little before the time of Christ, says, in allusion to Daniel, when speaking on the prophet
Habakkuk,
that
"
the four great kingdoms of the earth
should be destroyed in turns, and be succeeded by the
kingdom of Messiah." It would be endless to adduce proof upon this point, and needless too for however much our modern rationalists may argue to the contrary,
;
simply a matter of fact that all the opinions of the ancient Jewish Church are against them.*
it is
If
you adopt the second
alternative, maintaining that
these predictions of the coming Messiah were merely the surmisings of natural genius, which were strangely and
unexpectedly brought about by a series of lucky circum stances ; then I challenge you to prove that there was
anything in the state of the Jewish mind, even for a thousand years before Christ, that naturally led to such a
development of thought.
everything directed against
On
it ?
the
contrary,
it
was not
Did
flatter
any national
hopes
Was
it
in keeping with
"On
any
feeling of patriot-
* See Dr. Altix,

Church."
the Judgment of the Ancient Jewish
253
ism
Was
there
to
any one element
in the
Mosaic theology
this expected King and triumphant nature ? What teacher of a people joyous such hopes could have ever instinctively had the having
which led up tered around
it ?
Were not
all
the hopes which clus of Israel naturally of a
slightest antecedent
arrival of their
ground for prognosticating that the King would issue in the downfall of their
nation?
Or that when He appeared, it would be to overthrow their temple, and abrogate their laws, and in Or that the coming troduce a totally new dispensation ?
of such a
death
genius observation.
King would be signalised by his rejection and Such predictions were no outcome of human no forecasts of probabilities founded upon astute
We
such thoughts.
At
look in vain for any natural germ of all events, if there were any, we ask
you to produce them, and we challenge you to bring
them forward.
you adopt the third alternative, viz., that these thoughts were mere rough guesses, first originated as speculations, then elaborated artificially, and afterwards
If
moulded into realities by the determined conduct of Christ and His apostles, who purposely brought them
about in order to make their fulfilment agreeable with the prediction then we bid you explain how it was
done.
to
That line of reasoning might, perhaps, be applied some points of the evangelistic narratives, such as our Lord s entrance into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass (see Zech. ix. 9), or to the commencement of His
"
"
circumstances which ministry in Galilee (see Is. ix. i) were perfectly within His own control, and which, there
fore,
might possibly be alleged as having been effected

to secure the fulfilment of Jewish prophecy.
But these
instances of which
we speak were very
different.
They
were perfectly beyond the control of any individual will of man. You will tell me, perhaps, that any one might have risen up as a teacher in Israel, and by setting forth
claims which were opposed to the prejudices of the Jewish Doubtless. rulers, have brought about his own death.
But
will
you have the kindness
to inform
me how
man
by those means could have forced on, after his death, a series of gigantic events so as to produce a disruption of
Jewish nationality, just because such a catastrophe had been fancifully sketched out some hundred years before
as a
consequence of the coming of the King whose
claims that teacher had ambitiously assumed ? You will reply, perhaps, that the time was well selected, inasmuch
as Palestine, already in
captivity, was already giving an of expiring nationality; and that, preliminary signs final its therefore, conquest by the Romans was
suff>
ciently probable to justify
its
even
that continuous
argument and progressive teaching throughout the Old Testament, of which I have been speaking though
this subtle
fails
speedy expectation. But For the voice ot you.
one point of its development it foretold the breaking up of Jewish nationality as a consequence of the rejection of its promised King yet did not let that fact stand It predicted the going forth of a new law from alone. Jerusalem, by which all nations were to be gathered into
in
it,
as into a spiritual metropolis
for
the world.
The
King, whose rejection was to bring ruin on that city a Teacher or Prophet whose literally, was also to be doctrine and influences after death should spiritually
of Thought in the J3ooks of the Bible,

restore
it
25$
for ever,
by making
it
common
centre round
which the
affections of the converted
heathen were to be
The gathered, and into which their forces should flow. we was to not of centuries, repeat, merely past testimony
the breaking up of the old Jewish nationality, but to the coincident uprising of an universal though spiritual
empire, in which the long promised King and Prophet of the Jews should administer His kingdom under new
laws and statutes, fitted to the moral and spiritual wants

of humanity at large.
Now
behold in the Christian Church
such a kingdom we actually not as a matter of ;
You may ridicule speculation, but as a hard, dry fact. our faith as superstition, you may deny the personal resurrection of Jesus as a delusive sham ; but you cannot
deny
that through the teaching of apostles
and evan
came forth a risen power from Christ which gelists there lived after He had disappeared, and which, coincidently with the dissolution of the Jewish nationality, peacefully
opened a new kingdom of
faith
to all nations.
I say
peacefully opened it ; because however much you may retort that it was debased by violence in later times, yet
it
was not
sword,
should be ever remembered that the kingdom of Christ set up like Mahomet s, by the power of the
faith,
first
but simply by that of argument,, of patience, and of love. Its victories through the
centuries were purely moral
it
of
few
and spiritual. Nevertheless, triumphantly ran throughout many nations, and so is in fulfilled the predictions of the ancient prophets,
the union then of these two facts which are both strictly historical, and each of which survives (be it observed) up
to this very
day ;
it is
the union of these two facts, each

so
difficult
of achievement yet so widely spread,
so
and permanent, that we see how utterly impossible it must have been for any one will to have If personally planned and carried them into execution.
established
any of you think
this complicated moulding of public events according to a preconceived programme possible, Let Mr. Bradlaugn, for let him try the experiment. himself set so against the rulers of this country example,
that he
is
obliged to lay
his principles
down
then
his life as the penalty.

rise up, as
it
Let him and

the dead,
were, from
and so
reassert themselves through the pages
of the National Reformer, as to bring on a total collapse of the British empire by means of foreign invasion and
conquest.
Let his followers then manage simply by

slightest vio
moral and intellectual means, without the
lence or turbulence, to get rid of Christianity in Europe, so that its churches perish and all its institutions fall.
When you
have done this, gentlemen, as the simple result of your own will and pleasure, we will give you a right to But meanwhile, whether the argument now propounded.
like to hear
it
you
is
or not,
we maintain
.
that Christianity
a supernatural continuation of the Old Testament church of the Hebrews the predicted evolution of its
prophecies the only key which unlocks with reasonable ness the full meaning of its sacred books ; a continuation
up
to the present
moment
of the
same
line of
thought
which had been
one long course of progressive develop ment from the beginning. I remind you once more that this continuation of Church life is not an arbitrary as
in
sumption
it
it
is
fact.
takes the shape of an historical
Apart from religion altogether, and literary truth which
of Thought
in the
Books of the
of.
Bible.
2 57
can neither be gainsaid nor got rid

are ideal
All other religions
and speculative. The Hebrew faith is historical. Its sacred books are a deposit of national literature, bristling with every form and variety of style, and ex
tending over a vast period
;
yet never deviating from
one witness
therefore, to
in religious
hope and thought.

this fact.
You
have,
account for
As
for ourselves,
we
contend that the phenomena here presented to us were above all human causation ; that there is not only no
thing like
them
in the history of
world, but that
any other religion in the no other theory except that of super

is left
natural revelation
for
is
to us,
if
we
fairly
wish to account
is clear.
them.
Upon
that theory everything
There
then an intelligible connection between cause and effect ; but without it, we search in vain for a solution.
If
you think you can give us a better solution, gentle men, try your hands upon it now; and I promise we
will listen to
you
patiently.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
MILL,
JOHN STUART
W.
R.
BROWNE,
College,
M.A.,
Fellow of Trinity
Cambridge.
JUttobtcrgraphg
oi
John
.Stuart
begin this lecture upon the Autobiography of John Stuart Mill by observing that I have already published a review of that work in the first number of
MUST
the
Christian Evidence Journal. In this review are contained the chief conclusions and reflections to which
the study of the book had then led me. I have, however, followed a somewhat different path in this investigation, and it is therefore only a few phrases and arguments
contained in the review which
have found occasion to
reproduce ; but I allude to the fact lest there should be anyone here present who has read the review, and
might be surprised to hear some parts of

without explanation.
it
repeated
The
very
first
already been alluded
point I wish to note is one which has to in the review, and that is the
exceeding value of the book before me.
No
thought! ul
man
opinion, neglect to read it, whether he agree or disagree with the opinions of its author. live so much to ourselves, each in his own little world of
should, in
my
We
262
T/ie
Autobiography of
John
Stuart Mill.
that
thought and feeling and
experience,
we should
always seize the opportunity to look into another
man
mind and see how the problems of life appeared to him, and what means he took to solve them. Now there is no such opportunity to be compared with that of reading
an autobiography,
if only the writer sets forth faithfully the history of his convictions, of the causes which led to them, and the effects on life and character which they
produced.
This holds true even

like
if
the writer
is
an ordi
nary
man
ourselves, with
is
no
special talents or high
qualities.
But the value

is
of course far greater where
no ordinary man, but a leader of his age, either in thought or in action, and perhaps in the former case more than in the latter. Now this John Stuart Mill undoubtedly was. Whatever may be the estimate
the writer
of his powers into which the world will
finally
settle
down,
he,
more than any one man, moulded and

all
in
fluenced on
abstract questions the thought of the age in which he lived. And here we have the record of this
man s own
out, as all
thoughts
the picture of his inner
life
traced
must admit, with simplicity and frankness and truth. I think no one reading the book can doubt that what he there describes himself to have thought and felt
that he really did feel
and think; and although there was which he does not teil us, ye*!, that what he does say may be fully relied on. Therefore, as I said before, this book is one which all thoughtful men should read ; one from which many lessons may be But my business to-night learnt, and on many subjects.
probably much
in his life
is
not with the book as a whole, nor with

political
all
the pursuits
its
and
social
and
literary
in
which
author
Thf Autobiography of John Stuart Mill.
263
was immersed. I am going to look at the life of John Stuart Mill from one point of view only, and that is the The one question which we point of view of religion. have to discuss in this hall to my mind the one ques
tion
which the world has to discuss
is
the question
I am going to whether Christianity be true or false. examine this man s life in order to see how it bears upon that one question ; what evidence it furnishes, what
lessons
we may draw from

s
it
that
may
the
help us to that
life
question
I
solution.
need hardly stop
to explain
why
of this par
ticular
man
is
is
The reason
of his day.
friends
specially suited to furnish such evidence. not far to seek. John Stuart Mill was one
of the keenest, the clearest, the
most
influential thinkers
He
was
also a
man much
beloved by his
(Heaven
forbid that I should stint a
word
that
can be uttered in praise of the dead)
devoted to the
welfare of his fellow men, regular and temperate in his sincere ; and he was an utter un life, honest r upright,,
This fact, believer in any form of religion whatsoever. in his well known which was tolerably lifetime, is made
perfectly clear was all that I
either in
and
certain
by the volume before
us.
He
have described, morally and
intellectually,
consequence of or in spite of his rejection of all which Christians hold true and sacred. Which of these There can be no denying that at first sight is the case ?
his
life
it
that
has been
makes against the party of religion. I have felt to be so by many

;
know
to
felt it
some extent myself. Can so careful and so brilliant

age
that be true which a thinker
at least, of the science of logic
the greatest master, in this and the laws of evi-
264
The Autobiography of John Stuart Mill.
pronounced unhesitatingly to be false ? This is the question which men have asked themselves in looking at the fact of John Mill s unbelief before light was
dence
thrown upon the subject by the appearance of

volume.
I
this
ask that question again to-night, and in the light so afforded I will try to answer it. With this object I turn to the book itself, in order to
what John Mill s religious opinions really were; what were the causes which produced them, and the (2) which they rested. And here I am met by a on grounds
learn (i)
fact. The subject of religious opinion is the only subject which does not run through the book. There is one passage near the beginning where, in giving
very striking
a general account of his education, he states at length and distinctly what were the religious views held by his
father
and impressed from earliest childhood on himself; and from that time forward we hear no more on the topic, except in a few casual allusions, referring more to
others than to himself.
Considering
how minutely he
describes the change and development of his views

politics,
social
is
silence
two things
as for
latter
upon and mental philosophy, this It must mean one of certainly remarkable. either that his religious views underwent no
science,
his
life,
change throughout
supposition
some reason he thought proper

that
or that the changes were such to conceal. The

alter
he did
his opinions but
would not say so is opposed to all we know of him otherwise, and to what we may glean from the book itself. We must therefore fall back on the first supposi that his religious views remained throughout tion And on looking exactly what they were in his boyhood.

again at the book, I think
this
265
we may
see very clearly
why
was
so,
and
at the
his authority is on this one important passage which
same time of how little weight I must here quote the matter.
I
have already mentioned.
Having described the extraordinary course of mental training to which he was subjected, he goes on to speak of moral influences, and introduce? the subject of re
ligion thus
(P. 38.)
:
"I
was brought up from the
first
without any
religious belief, in the ordinary acceptation of the term. father, educated in the creed of Scotch Presbyte-
My
rianism,
had by
his
own
studies
and
reflections
been
early led to reject not only the belief in Revelation, but also the foundations of what is commonly called Natural
Religion
Finding no halting place in Deism, he

in a state of perplexity until,
remained
doubtless after
he yielded to the conviction that con cerning the origin of things nothing whatever can be known. This is the only correct statement of his opinion for
many
struggles,
dogmatic Atheism he looked upon as absurd ; as most of those whom the world has considered Atheists have
always done.
they show
that
religious belief
These
particulars are important, because

is
my
was
father s rejection of all that

not, as
called
many might suppose, primarily a matter of logic and evidence the grounds of it were moral still more than intellectual. He found it impossible to believe that a world so full of evil was the work of an
:
Author combining and righteousness.
power with perfect wisdom His aversion to religion, in the sense usually attached to the term, was of the same kind with that of Lucretius he regarded it with the feelings
infinite
. . . :
266

to a
due not
evil.
first
mere mental delusion, but

up
fictitious
to a great moral
:
He looked upon it as the greatest enemy of morality

by
setting
excellences
belief in creeds,
devotional feelings, and ceremonies, not connected with the good of human kind and causing them to be
accepted as substitutes for genuine virtues but above all by radically vitiating the standard of morals making
: :
it
consist in
doing the
will
of a
being, on
whom
it
lavishes all the phrases of adulation, but

truth
it
whom
in sober
depicts, as eminently hateful.
times heard
him say
;
that all ages
I have a hundred and nations have repre
sented their gods as wicked, in a constantly increasing
mankind have gone on adding trait the most perfect conception of reached they wickedness which the human mind can devise, and have
progression
after trait
that
till
called
this
God and
what
is
prostrated
themselves before
it.
This ne plus ultra of wickedness he considered to be

to- mankind as Think (he used to say) of a being who would make a Hell who would create the human race with the infallible foreknowledge, and there
embodied
in
commonly presented
the creed of Christianity.
fore with the intention, that the great majority of
them
were to be consigned to horrible and everlasting, torment." Such then were the opinions of the father. Were they
imparted to and acquiesced in by the son
On
this
head we are not

read
"
left
in doubt.
little
further
on we
It
would have been wholly inconsistent with
my
father s ideas of duty to allow
me
to acquire impressions
contrary
religion
:
to his convictions and feelings respecting and he impressed upon me from the first, that

the
267
manner
*
in
which the world came into existence was

:
that the ques a subject on which nothing was known cannot be answered, because we tion Who made me ?
answer
have no experience or authentic information from which to it and that any answer only throws the difficulty
:
a step further back, since the question immediately pre He at the same time Who made God ? sents itself,
took care that I should be acquainted with what had
been thought by mankind on these impenetrable pro

blems.
7
to impress of his father. religious opinions upon John That he retained those opinions through life there can
It is thus certain that
no pains were spared
Mill
the
have already said, as little doubt. Not merely does he here quote them with manifest approval, but the few scattered notices further on in the book are all in
be, as I
the same tone.
Thus
in the course of
an eulogy on the
character of unbelievers (p. 46) he speaks of them as men who think the proof incomplete that the universe is the
work of design, and assuredly disbelieve that it can have an Author and Governor who is absolute in power, as well This then may be taken as the as perfect in goodness."
creed, or rather the no-creed of James Mill and his son. Looking into it we are at once struck by this fact, that
the grounds of unbelief in this case have nothing what ever to do with what are commonly called the Evidences of
Religion natural or revealed ; nothing whatever to do with the claims of Christianity as compared with those of
other forms of belief. What we are dealing with is s:mply a sweeping rejection of everything that we call supernatural, a rejection made on a priori grounds, which
268
The Autobiography of John Stuart MilL
are quite independent of the positive evidence, however All such strong, that may be offered on its behalf.
evidence
is
in fact shut out of court
and barred by the
position that the world being evil, cannot have an Author absolute in power and goodness. The strength of that What I now wish to position I shall consider presently.
point out
its
is
the effect that

It is
it
exercises
on the minds of
supporters.
my
full belief
that
John Mill never

I ex
:
fairly studied the Evidences of Christianity at all. pect to be told that this is inconceivable that a
man
of
his powerful intellect
and grasp of mind could not but
have made a thorough investigation of so weighty a matter. It is well therefore that I should state clearly
my
reasons for making such an assertion
and they are
these.
(i.)
He
never in any part of the book gives any hint
of his having made such an investigation. Considering the full information given us as to all he did and thought, this omission is very significant at any rate it throws on
:
opponents the burden of proving that such an investi There is one passage of the Auto gation was made.
my
biography where we should certainly have expected some notice -of the kind and that is the description in ch. v. of the mental crisis through which he went in early man
:
hood. In the full tide of youthful zeal and ambition to be a reformer of the world he suddenly asked himself whether, if all the objects for which he was working could be completely realised at the instant, this would be a great joy and happiness to him and an irrepressible
:
self-consciousness answered
state of utter
"
No."
On
this
he
fell
into a
for
and hopeless
dejection, which lasted
The Autobiography of John Stuatt
Mill.
269
some months.
It is in
such circumstances that
many
recourse to religion, and we might have ex that John Mill would at least have made an effort pected but though the whole crisis is minutely to do so
men have
detailed, there
is
no hint of his even entertaining the
idea.
found a refuge from his state of despair in the enjoyment derived from the contemplation of nature, from books, conversation, and in general the cheap and
at last
He
quiet resources of
life
whether any
man
it.
and it may fairly be questioned having passed through such a crisis

;
without the aid of religion
is
likely
ever afterwards to
have recourse to
(2.)
The
early training of
John Mill
is
sufficient in
account for his never giving any thought to the What this training was of Christian Evidences. subject we have already seen. The effect produced may be
itself to
described in his
own words
"
(p.
43)
am one who
:
has not thiown off religious belief, but never had it I grew up in a negative state with regard to it. I looked
upon the modern exactly as I did upon the ancient religion, as something which in no way concerned me. It did not seem to me more strange that English people should believe what I did not than that the men I read of in Herodotus should have done In fact John Mill s attitude towards Christianity was precisely that of a learned and thoughtful Christian towards Mahometanan exhaustive inquiry into the subject would not ism appear necessary in the one case any more than in the
so."
:
other.
The powerful
all
allowed on
school.
hands
influence of such early training is by none more than by the sceptical
The only
possible
mear* they can take
to ex-
2y
plain the fact that the great bulk of mankind, even of the the clever and intellectual, profess a belief in religion
dice
only justification of their outcry as to the evils of preju and priestcraft and superstition is the fact that men
are as a rule very slow to give
up the opinions that
have been impressed on them in childhood and youth.

It
may be
much
and ignorant
find
objected that this applies rather to the stupid that the keener and more cultivated minds
;
shaking off the trammels in which they have been bred. But whatever force there may be in this objection, there is an influence on the opposite side which much more than counterbalances it
less difficulty in
It
the influence of that subtle snare, intellectual pride. must be confessed that there is no credit to one s
It is a conviction shared intellect in being a Christian. with the dullest, the humblest, the most ignorant of man The founder of our faith openly thanked God kind.
had hid these things from the wise and prudent But it seems and had revealed them unto babes." it a grand thing to be a on the face of and obviously
that he
"
It shows that we are wiser than our parents and teachers clever enough to see the weakness of argu ments which they think conclusive too clear-sighted to be blinded by the mists of prescription and authority. This is to march with the age and rise superior to the
doubter.
antiquated superstitions of the past. Therefore it is a matter of common observation that a clever, shallow, half-instructed man is always more or less of a sceptic in
religion.
Of course
this
character does
not apply to
But there are evidences enough even in the John book before us of a calm abiding sense of superiority,
Mill.

not at
all
271
the
same thing
as vanity
and
conceit, but quite
as great a hindrance to the real grasping of truth. had been taught, and had taught himself to believe, that
He
he
stood by training and instruction on a higher level than the mass of mankind ; on their narrow views and sordid
interests
he looked down as from an eminence with pity, and not without contempt. Was it likely that such men should have the key to a mystery which defied his
powers to penetrate? Is there wisdom in such as these ? But I may be reminded that these causes, however far
they
may go
Mill,
towards accounting for the scepticism of
John
do not apply to the case of his father. Be it I will show you another cause, more powerful than so. any of those I have named, and affecting father and son a fatal error on what may seem a mere abstract alike metaphysical question, but is really of the most tre mendous and vital import. These two men were un believers, essentially and directly because they did not
;
admit the freedom of the will. Once allow that man is free, and the whole ground on which they stand is cut
away from them.

religion,
to.
To show
this let us state their

it
view of
in
all
look
it
fairly in
the face and see what

is
amounts
Religion cannot be true (this effect) because the world is evil.
what they say

tell
"
You
us that
things are under the rule of an unseen Being, boundless in power, perfect in goodness. But, in fact, men find
themselves living under an empire, not of good, but of

evil.
They have
to struggle against pain
and
sickness,
and poverty and oppression, and all manner of adversi ties. Why should this be ? If God desires his creatures Nor is to be happy, why does he not make them so ?
272
this
The Autobiography of John Stuart Mlu.
for
As if the misery of this world was not enough all. He has him, he has prolonged it into eternity. made a hell has created the human race with the
infallible
foreknowledge, and therefore with the intention
the great majority of them are to be consigned Is not this the to horrible and everlasting torment most perfect conception of wickedness which the human
that
mind can devise

assert that a
Is
it
not a palpable contradiction to
Being who would so act can at the same time be perfectly good ? And if so, must not a system which involves such an assertion be utterly false ? But
all
modern
religious systems
do involve such an
asser
and therefore all such systems stand self-condemned, apart from any evidence that may exist for or against
tion,
their historical
truth."
This, put as briefly and plainly as I can, I believe to be the position held by James and John Mill. I think
all will
acknowledge
its
strength.
It is at
any rate clear
and
definite.
The argument appears
to
me
faultless
the conclusion to be, on one assumption, undeniable. That assumption, though not expressed, underlies the
It is the assumption that whole, and it is utterly false. man is not a free agent, that he is in the hands of God exactly as a machine is in the hands of its maker, only that he is a machine capable of feeling pleasure and
pain.
God
is
man God
being almighty must do all things, and if miserable it must be because God of his own
pleasure
makes him
so,
and
for
no other reason.
free;
That
being almighty could
make man
that he
could put before him good and evil, and leave him to choose between them, such choice being the one end for

which he
having
;
273
existed,
and
if
for
which existence was worth

evil
:
and
that
he chose
he suffered, not from
these are conceptions which such a theory as Mill s can never embrace, or know that it must have been so. I even conceive.
act,
God s
but from his
own
We
need hardly remind you that John Mill has done more than any other man of this century to advance the modern
theory of Necessity, and present it in its most complete and plausible form. That theory, as set forth in his
"
Logic,"
is
quite
different
from the Fatalist doctrine

in ancient
which has been largely held both

times.
and modern
power
it
The
Fatalist believes in a great overruling
that settles
man
s
;
destiny beforehand, and brings
to
pass without
fail
but
it
does not
fetter
man s
will, it
only conquers
he
a
it. If a man is predestined to be drowned be drowned, do what he may ; but he still is free to struggle, only he will assuredly struggle in vain. Such
will
belief,
though
it
may deaden man s

The modern
energy, does not
relieve
his
conscience.
theory
is
much
more
this
subtle
and much more dangerous.
According to
theory man is simply the connecting link in a chain He is born with a certain of unalterable sequences.
and tendencies, for which, of course, he is not responsible ; the outward circumstances with which he is surrounded act upon this disposition, and inevitably
disposition
produce certain special actions on the man s part. These actions by the like fixed law issue in certain habits, and so the man s whole life goes on in a fixed mechanical succession of events, which could be calculated before
hand by any one knowing the complex forces which act on it just as accurately as astronomers can calculate the
18
274
Z% e Autobiography of yohn Stuart

planet.
Milt.
complex path of a
in fact just this
:
The
that the reign of law
essence of the theory is of fixed invariable

in the world
succession
which has been proved to hold
of matter extends also to the world of mind.
Now,
to
discuss this great question fully would be impossible to But to the theory I have described there is this night.
one
fatal
sciousness,
that it is clean against man s con objection or rather I should perhaps say against my
consciousness, since each

self.
man
I I
can speak only

that I
for
him
But
for every
myself (and one here present)
for
think that I must speak also
know
am
free, that I
am
not the slave
of circumstances,
that
may
act
do not obey it any more than a king obeys the councillor whose advice he follows. When I move my hand near a flame, the consciousness of heat is no whit more clear or certain than the con sciousness that such movement was my own free act alone, and not due to any power whatsoever; and you
according to a motive, but
are as likely to persuade
me
is
is
to disbelieve the
still
one
fact as
the other.
Further, what
that this theory
more
to
my
purpose to
remark
is
utter destruction to all that
we
as
call
morality.
It asserts that the life of
man
is
just
much
;
plant
it
the product of certain causes as the life of a that knowing all the conditions you could describe
beforehand just as exactly as you could describe the life of a plant if you knew the nature of the seed and all
soil, weather, and so forth under which Then if so, how can man be sprang up and grew. more responsible for his actions than a plant is ? He did
the conditions of
it
not
make
his
he lived;
own nature nor the circumstances in which how did he in any sense make what that

nature and those circumstances produced
possibly honour this man for his truth that man for his baseness and infamy ?
as well
?
275
How
virtue,
can we
and
blame
May we
not just
honour the rose

for its poison ?
for its sweetness, or
hemlock
shut
This
is
so
blame the and obvious pkin

it
that even the opponents of free will find

their
Mill himself. The difficulty pressed hard upon him, and he got rid of it by an evasion as shallow and as flagrant as was ever used by the votary of
witness
eyes of John
to
it.
appeal on
this
head
very hard to to the
superstition in
faith.
the
attempt
(p.
to
reconcile
reason
with
168) that he felt as if he was scientifically proved to be the helpless slave of antecedent circumstances as if his character and that of all others
After telling us
had been formed for us by agencies beyond our own he goes control, and was wholly out of our own power I pondered painfully on the subject, till on to say, gradually I saw light through it. ... I saw that though our character is formed by circumstances, our own and desires can do much to shape those circumstances
"
that
what
is
really
inspiriting
is
and ennobling
that
in
the
doctrine
real
of free will
the
conviction
we have
:
power over the formation of our own character
that our will,
by influencing some of our circumstances,
can modify our future habits or capabilities of willing." Our desires can do much to shape our circumstances. But what have we to do with our desires ? Do they not
rise
unbidden in our minds, just as the outward circum

?
stances rise unbidden around us

actions,
It is true
that our
by which alone we can influence circumstances, do modify our future desires, and produce habits. But
276
if

first
each action from the

result of
moment
of our existence
was the simple

for
whatever desires and circum
stances existed at that
moment, how are we responsible
Unless at some point at least of the chain of events our own independent will has corns
such modification
?
in,
that
"
power over the formation of our own
characters"
of which Mr. Mill speaks is not a reality but a phan tom. And it is a phantom, because this independent
is exactly what Mr. Mill and his school deny. Therefore his escape from the difficulty is a mere paltry evasion. Therefore on the doctrine of free will, and of
action
free
alone, has man any responsibility for his such words as right, duty, and morality any or actions,
will
proper meaning whatever. I hold therefore as a certain truth this great axiom of the freedom of the will. And now I will show
you how
as to
utterly
it
the
possibility of believing in religion.
changes the face of the question I have
already sketched out for you the scheme of religion as I will now it appeared to James Mill and to his son
:
out again, as it appears to me. It is a fact accepted by all wise and true men, that happiness with out virtue is poor and worthless that virtue without
sketch
it
happiness piness with virtue

desires, for
is
noble, but too hard to bear

is
lastly, that
hap
the one good

is fitted,
which he
thing which man for which alone it is worth
all things. But what do you mean by virtue ? Not merely doing acts which If so, a machine are useful and beneficial to others ? If you think of what you mean by could be virtuous. to do good when you might do evil virtue it is this to
while to
live, to
dare and to suffer
277
walk steadfastly in the narrow road when the broad lies open before you. There is the clue to the mystery which has so puzzled men in all ages, the mystery of
evil.
Choose any
virtue
you
please,
it
and you
if it
will see that
but for the presence of evil
could not
exist.
Where
would be the merit of

to
lie ?
truthfulness,
if
were impossible
of
courage
if
there
be,
Where would benevolence

trustfulness,
were nothing to fear ? if all were happy? or
none were
false ?
Even
love
itself,
the
crowning grace, the message of the Gospel, is not a virtue so long as it is a mere natural feeling for those who are
near to us, and contribute to our happiness it becomes such only when it extends to the unknown and the out
:
enemies themselves. Evil is necessary nay to the very existence of virtue ; to overcome evil with good is the grandest thing, is the one only grand thing, which the rnind of man can conceive.
cast,
and
to our
to the growth,
And
doubtless, grand though
it
be to
us, it is far
grander
in the sight of
God.
God who made
the world
and
all
things therein would have the reasonable service of free men, rather than the blind obedience of slaves. There
he has created a world of mingled good and evil, pleasure and pain ; therefore he has placed man in that world, having given him from the treasure of his own
fore
omnipotence the supreme
gift
of will
and
setting before
him good and

to
evil,
blessing
choose between them.
and As
cursing, he leaves
his
him
choice
virtuous or vicious,
happy
is
or miserable.
evil,
the explanation of moral
as distinct
he Here comes in from physical.

is
so
is
Once admit
admit the
choose, and you must of his Once possibility choosing wrong.

that
free to
man
278
The Autobiography of John Stuart Mitt.

this to
admit
be possible, and there can be no cause

it
for
has actually happened, or that it has hap number of times. And whilst to those who pened any choose and cleave to the good, there is an end ere long of trial and discipline, and virtue perfected receives its
surprise that
selves to evil,
exceeding great reward so those who wilfully give them must sooner or later reap the just recom
:
pense of their deeds, as even by the working of natural

law, guilt brings in general
when
Sin its own punishment. hath conceived, bringeth forth death. Hitherto I have spoken in the language of natural
it
religion only,
all
and the Jew, the Deist, the Mahometan, with me thus far. But we Christians claim go may for this doctrine of the majesty of suffering a witness such as no other creed knows of, no philosophy has con
ceived.
The God whom we worship has not

"
precepts of virtue merely he has also that we should follow in his steps."
:
given us us an example The fiery trial of

left
adversity was in his eyes a thing so precious that even

his
own perfections he deemed imperfect until they had When man in his weakness chose evil thus been tried.
and
fell
rather than good,
ever deeper and deeper into
the gulf of sin, then God not willing that any should perish found out a remedy by the sacrifice of himself.
forefront of the battle,
above into the and dying gave to us in one act pardon for past failure, and strength for victories to come. Therefore is he not our Lord only, but also our pattern and our guide how often so ever we fall, yet in his name we may arise he was tempted in all our tempta tions, and in all our sorrows we are filling up the measure
descended from
his secure throne
; ;
He
279
What have other religions to of the sufferings of Christ. offer in comparison with this ? They may paint the un approachable splendour of their deity, the immutability
of his repose, and invest him with the poor attributes of wisdom and strength but we know Jesus Christ and him crucified. Ours is a God who went about doing good who had not where to lay his head ; who was despised and rejected of men; who made himself in the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even
:
the death of the cross.
Yours may be a
:
but ours
is
God
of love
laid
God of power, of love than which none is

his life for
greater, in that
he has
it
down
our sakes.
from nature and from the Bible, is such are the purposes of God the mystery of godliness
:
Such, as we learn
in the creation
I
and government of
this world.
And no^
:
ask you to tell me whether this is a scheme of things which a philosopher should view with horror and disgust
which he should regard
quoting from the Autobio (I due not to a mere mental "with the feelings graphy) Is this a belief delusion, but to a great moral evil."
am
which
is
likely
"radically
to vitiate the standard of morals" ?
you recognise in the Being I have tried to describe, the most perfect conception of wickedness which the human mind can devise ? If not, was not the abhor
"
"
Do
rence on which Mill dwells so forcibly directed not against the Deity whom we worship, but against a demon
of his
own imagining?
But observe (and
this
brings
me back
argument), that the truth and the beauty of such a system as I have tried to paint, depends entirely on our admitting that man s will is
free.
to the direct line of
my
Deny
that
and the picture changes
at
once and
280

which Mill has de
the nutshell of
returns to the hideous colours in
scribed
this
it.
The whole argument

:
lies in
is
single unassailable truth
it
just
and righteous
that
man
should be rewarded for his good or punished

actions, provided,
for his
is
bad
and only provided, that he

was denied both by is ample proof),
free to act.
If then this doctrine of freedom
James Mill and
his
son (of which there
then their rejection of religion followed in strict logical In the case of James Mill there is evidence sequence.
enough that this denial was influenced by the school in which he had been brought up.
educated we are told
for the ministry
religious
He
was
of the Scottish
church, and doubtless therefore in the strict doctrine of Calvinism. Now without wishing to pronounce any judgment on that doctrine, there can be no doubt
that
if it
does not deny free

disfigures
it
will, at
any
it
rate
it
so ob
scures
and
as to
make
almost invisible.
James Mill therefore had only to accept that doctrine and push it to its rigorous consequences. Man, accord ing to Calvin, is not free to rise therefore, Mill would The injustice of what he argue, he is not free to fall. had been taught to regard as the only true scheme of religion would then appear clear to his logical mind ; and we can imagine how even his good qualities
;
courage, philanthropy, love of justice

self-assertion
helped his natural
and pugnacity to open revolt. With his son the work was easier, for the two reasons I have first, that the training was begun and already given earliest childhood; and secondly, in from persevered that the same training, together with the tone of the
;
281
society in which he moved, so inculcated the superior wisdom of unbelief, that to a much more humble man it
tion.
might have seemed a truth beyond all possibility of ques Therefore I claim to have proved that the rejection
of Christianity by these two men, and more especially by the son, is no evidence at all against its truth except in so far as it is an evidence against the truth of free will.
But
can do more than
this
can
call these
very
men
to give testimony
on
all
my
side of the argument.
For
whilst rejecting with
freedom they yet, by they would have been the

tained a belief in morality
possible emphasis the idea of an inconsistency of thought which

first
to
blame
in others, re
in those conceptions of right
and duty which, as I have already shown, are absolutely The doctrine I have meaningless, unless man is free. insisted on, namely that the only thing worth living for is
to
uphold the
his
right
and
strive against the
wrong, had no
firmer adherent than
James
Mill.
Listen to the account
which
"
My
father
son gives of his convictions on this head (p. 46). s moral convictions, wholly dissevered from
religion,
were very much of the character of those of the

;
Greek philosophers and were delivered with the force and decision which characterised all that came from him." His moral inculcations were justice, temperance (to which he gave a very extended application), veracity,
"
perseverance, readiness to encounter pain, and espe cially labour ; regard for the publx good, estimation of
persons according to their merits, and of things accord ing to their intrinsic usefulness; a life of exertion in
to one of self-indulgent ease and sloth. These and other moralities he conveyed in brief sentences,
contradiction
282
uttered
stern
The Autobiography of John Stuart Mill,

as
occasion arose,
of
grave
exhortation,
or
reprobation and contempt." Reprobation and What can be more irrational than for Mr. contempt
!
Mill to cherish such feelings against persons who are only acting as he acted, that is in absolute harmony with
the motives imposed on them by nature and circum stances ? We should all think it absurd to be angry
with a lunatic,
lunatics stand
praise
and on this theory sane men and on exactly the same footing so far as and blame are concerned. They each of them
adjust as their nature makes them act; the nature of the one is rational and of the other not but rationality and irrationality are not moral qualities, and have no praise or blame attaching to them. In short man is a machine and it is no more reasonable to blame him for commit ting a crime, than to blame a steam engine for causing
;
an accident.
Therefore
say that these moral senti
ments and inculcations of James Mill are a proof that his scheme, however complete in theory, broke down in practice ; that in spite of himself he felt what all do feel
evil,
human actions, according as they are good or deserve praise or censure, reward or punishment. His theory ran altogether counter to those feelings, and
that
the feelings got the better of
Horace
it. There is a line of which says forcibly that you may pitchfork
Nature out of the
cart,
back again
and
that I hold to have

further,
but she will always find her way been the case with
his
James
Mill.
But
language goes to prove
that true philosophers, whatever may be their speculative opinions, do unite in that practical conviction which the
strong sense of honest
men
has in
all
ages approved

the conviction that the
life
283
to
which
all
men
should and
s
can
aspire, the only life
worth
living, is (to
use Mill
own
words) a life of justice, temperance, veracity, perseve ranee a life of exertion in contradiction to one of self:
indulgent ease and sloth.
honour
to that
man, and
that
Like the Christian he paid man only, who walks the

flattery, fear,
straight path of
duty proof against
or pain
and by so doing he bears unconscious witness to the truth of that great principle which I have been defending. For what is the true essence of this life of exertion, the inward principle to which honour is due? Why has England but lately leapt up to welcome those gallant men who have been fighting her battles in the deadly air of Africa ? Why has she still more lately been earnest to offer all that remained to pay of honour to that great
traveller
who
life
in a yet nobler spirit gave
even to
land
itself,
for the welfare of that
? Why but because they did this have done otherwise because when they might have shrunk from the danger they pressed on to meet it ; be
up everything, same distant when they might"
cause they preferred the life of labour and suffering to that of luxury and ease which lay equally within their reach ; because, in a word, they made a right and noble
use of
God s
task
is
sovereign
gift
of
will.
that
I have tried to show you no argument against the truth of Christianity can properly be drawn from the unbelief of James and John
My
well nigh over.
Mill.
as
it
lies
I have put before you the theory of life and being was held by them, and also the theory which under the faith of the Christian. I must leave you to
choose between them.
Only
in
choosing there
is
one
284
TJu Autobiography of John Stuart Miff.
point which I would ask you to weigh well and carefully, and that is, how far each theory suits itself to the great
moral
facts
of our experience, and to those needs and
yearnings and aspirations of which all enlightened souls are conscious. This moral evidence has no small weight
in a question which concerns exclusively the moral and not the physical side of man s nature ; and he is a fool
who
in making up his beliefs neglects to inquire how those beliefs square with his inmost needs, and how they will aid him through the troublesome voyage of life.
Now
James and John

influence
;
the philosophy of the Secularists, as represented by Mill, is utterly powerless as to any moral
it
has no nourishment to strengthen the weak,

to heal the afflicted.
It
no medicine
asserts that
con
cerning the origin and end of things nothing is or can be known ; whence we come and whither we are going is
alike
behind a
veil
of the existence and nature of
God
.we are wholly ignorant, except that
he cannot be, as
Theists hold,
infinite
Placed as we are in
this life
both in power and goodness. we have only to do the -best

\
we can
in
for our
own happiness
and
that
is
to
be found
promoting the happiness of the world at large, in abjuring pleasure and excitement, and leading a life of
Now this view of life may suit philanthropic exertion. the cold unimpassioned temperament Thus of James characteristic of sceptical philosophers.
men who have
Mill
pleasure, at least in his late years.
had scarcely any belief in He was not insensible to pleasures, but he deemed very few of them worth the price which, at least in the present state of society, must
we read
"
(p.
48)
He
be paid for them.
He
never varied in rating intellectual

enjoyments above
all
285
others even in value as pleasures,
independently of their ulterior benefits. The pleasures of the benevolent affections he placed high in the scale.
all sorts he professed the regarded them as a form of madness. The intense was with him a by-word of scornful disapprobation." Now we can imagine a man
For passionate emotions of

contempt.
greatest
He
of this character being well contented with a life of denying labour and philanthropy. But a voluptuary
self-
may
life,
it
answer him
does not
but
I
"I
have no objection to your idea of

it
so long as you carry

suit
out yourself ; but unfortunately
me.
have a
You may have no belief in pleasure, The satisfaction you find in great deal.
working for your fellow men, I find in gratifying my senses ; and so long as I do not interfere with others I
claim the right to follow
yours.
my own
;
instincts
as
you do
You may
perhaps urge that indulgence in plea
its own punishment but I reply that this no means a certain and universal by consequence that what is certain is the immediate gratification lastly, that if enjoyment should one day cease and life become a burden, there is still an unfailing resource one can always die. To such an argument I do not see
sure will bring
is
how
this
philosophy can possibly
make any answer

means
to enforce
whatever.
It fails therefore in finding
those rules of morality which it professes to uphold. if it can offer no defence against vice, still less has
But
it
any
man supporting force against the pressure of care. may perhaps live well enough on such a creed while the
world smiles on him and
let
all things are prosperous. But adversity come, as sooner or later it comes to all,
286
and
I know nothing more dreary, more utterly blank and For remember hopeless than his view of life must be. that this creed takes away all that to us Christians makes
its worst the promises of Scripture and of hope immortality, the glory of patience, and the inseparable love of Christ it takes away all these and
life
bearable at
full
the
it
tell
All that it can gives nothing whatever in their stead. of or point to is earthly happiness, and now earthly
is
happiness
I
gone.
am here drawing no fancied

for
picture.
need go no further
before us.
Remember
;
authority than the book that these two men, James and
my
John
on the whole singularly prosperous and they reached the highest eminence in the paths they had chosen, and might boast of having done much to advance the cause of humanity. Yet of the
Mill, lived
useful lives
father
life
He thought human a poor thing at the best, after the freshness of youth and of unsatisfied curiosity had gone by. This was a
we read
as follows (p. 48)
"
topic on which he did not often speak, especially it may be supposed in the presence of young persons ; but when he did it was with an air of settled and profound convic
tion.
it it
sometimes say that if life were made what be by good government and good education might would be worth having ; but he never spoke with
like
He would
anything
enthusiasm
even
of
that
possibility."
And
the son, with his loftier
mind and keener

the
tenets
sensi
his
bilities,
found even
less refuge in
of
In that moral philosophy against the storms of life. crisis of early manhood, of which he has left the record, we find his mind turning to suicide as its natural re
source.
"
I frequently
asked myself
(p.
140)
if
I could,

or
if I
287
was bound to go on
living, if life
was
to
be passed
I
in this manner.
I generally
answered to myself that
did not think I could possibly bear it beyond a year." And in later days how sad and hopeless is his clinging to the image of her whose mind he had made his standard
of intellect, and
a devotion
whose character he had worshipped with was almost akin to idolatry. Her memory is to me a religion, and her approbation the standard by which summing up as it does all wor I endeavour to regulate my thiness Because I know she would have wished it, I endeavour to make the best of what life I have left, and to work on for her purposes with such diminished strength as can be derived from thoughts of her, and communion with her memory/
that
"
"
life."
To me, thinking over this the last utterance of scepticism s

last
apostle,
there seems to corne the voice of another
teacher,
familiar
:
speaking in words no less sweet because so Come unto me, all ye that travail and are
"
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of
heart,
shall find rest unto your souls." So to the and oppressed of that distant place and day spoke weary the man Jesus of Nazareth ; so across the centuries he
and ye
speaks to the heavy-hearted now, and they believe him.
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY.

OBJECTS.
controvert the errors of Atheists, Pantheists, and other opponents of Christianity. To counteract the energetic propagandism of Infidelity, especially among the uneducated
.
To To
defend Christianity as a Divine Revelation.
To meet
perplexed.
the difficulties and strengthen the faith of the doubting and
To
instruct the
young
in the
Evidences of Christianity.
METHODS OF OPERATION.
SERMONS and LECTURES on phases of modern unbelief. POPULAR CONTROVERSIAL ADDRESSES on the
dences of Christianity, and Discussions in Halls and in the open
Evi
air.
CLASSES for the Study of Christian Evidences, and with award of prizes for meritorious students.
EXAMINATIONS
to
PUBLICATION
of
WORKS
to
meet the current objections
Christianity, adapted to the educated and to the uneducated. of suitable Works to Free Public Libraries, Young
GRANTS
Men s
Associations, Mechanics Institutes, etc.
Distribution of
TRACTS.
NEED OF
and character of God, Christ and
tures.
IT.
society, especially to the existence
The unsettled state of opinion in various classes of among the young and inexperienced, with regard
Christianity,
and the Holy Scrip

literature calculated
The wide
circulation of infidel
works and of other
to unsettle religious opinion.
The indefatigable propagation of secularist views otherwise.
by
lectures
and
SPECIAL CLAIM TO EXTENDED SUPPORT.

removes serious obstructions which lie in the way of those who preach the Gospel of Christ ; and being catholic in its character, it claims support from all who are interested in the defence of a common
It
Christianity.
OFFICES;
13,
BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.

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STRIVINGS

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE LECTURES. SERIES

STRIVINGS FOR THE FAITH.

AT THE REQUEST OF THE

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY.

HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY,

BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND.

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY THE

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY,

MODERN SCEPTICISM. FAITH AND FREE THOUGHT.

THE SECOND CENTURY. An Examination of By the Rev. W. SANDAY, D.D.

the critical part fo

delivered at the Paris Exhibition, 1878.

Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers,

London and Aylesbury.

were delivered in the same

Hall where the lectures

Popular Objections to Revealed Truth

delivered last year.

are intended similarly to

meet some of the

culties that are raised at the present

particularly with s-ome of the

Secularists.&quot; upon by the The Committee trust that these Strivings

prove useful both to

many who may them

be feeling the force of the objections referred

Society, the Committee wish

responsible for the statements

ments of his own lecture; no revision of the lectures

STREET, ADELPHI, LONDON, W.C.

DIFFICULTIES ON THE SIDE OF UNBELIEF IN ACCOUNTING

FOR HISTORICAL CHRISTIANITY.

College School, and late Assistant Preacher ai the J. emple Church.

cessation of the old universal custom

the basis of the

remains, and has

the remarkable rite of the

Supper, which professes to commemorate the death

V. Sketch of the Life of

VI. The universal adoption

the simplicity the difficulty of ac

implied, beyond the death of

continued observance, if nothing were its Founder.

VII. The historical

fact of the Resurrection

quate ground for celebrating this

VIII, Difficulties to be met, supposing the Resurrection not . . to be true. .

BIRKS, M.A., CAMB.,

characteristics of the Gospels,

their unity in respect of their brevity

proving the Messiahship of Jesus.

and special adaptation of each

of the revelation contained in

LECTURE III. THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.

lower the true Gospels to the level of the

explanation of the origin and intention of the Apocry

The Apocryphal Gospels

not supported by ecclesiastical

IV. Testimonies of ancient writers as to the existence of cer

and a brief account of the

The Apocryphal Gospels

as the four canonical Gospels

Secularists." upon by the The Committee trust that these Strivings